EvW By Jason Fink

Prologue

From: sjphifer@ucsa.army.gv Sent: October 10, 2021 12:19PM To: ljphifer@yagle.com CC: BCC: Subject: Goodbye, but not forever _________________________________________________________________________ _____ Leeza: By now u know Im not home plz tell Pa not to worry. Ive gone East. I know u wont believe me, but Im doing this for u. Im sad tht u arent coming with me, sad that u will be mad, sad tht u wont get it, but in my heart, I know Im doing the right thing. This is what Ma would have wanted. Its what Our Lord Jesus Christ would have wanted. I know ur rolling ur eyes at tht; it makes me smile and a little choked up. I dont know when Ill see that eye roll again. I never fit in Seattle. U know that. When the tensions started growing and dad moved us from Tulsa because he got a job in Seattle, I was pissed. U seemed happy enough, Dad did, too. But Mom and I, we never fit there. Even in high school, I knew I needed something else, something different. As u can see from the header, Ive joined up. They took away our cellphones, and all our communications are monitored, but they let us email, as long as we dont . . . . . .

Im kidding. I think they know that its important that we keep in touch with family, and think, maybe, we can show u that ur a little misguided. Maybe someday ull come. Maybe ull come to understand that Seattle is not ur home, that the West, like many family members, is misguided. Your loving brother, in Christs Name, -s

From: ljphifer@yagle.com Sent: October 10, 2021 12:21PM To: sjphifer@ucsa.army.gv CC: BCC: Subject: RE: Goodbye, but not forever _________________________________________________________________________ _____ SIMON WTF. Seriously. WTF? You bug out East, and you bug out without even saying goodbye? Except in this stupid email? And. You. Joined. Up??? WTF?

From: sjanders@ucsa.army.gv Sent: October 11, 2021 1:07AM To: ljanders@yagle.com CC: BCC: Subject: RE: RE: Goodbye, but not forever _________________________________________________________________________ _____ Leeza: I know that u dont believe me, but I really have done this for u. I know that u r 47 minutes older than me, and u never let me forget it, but in this, in this 1 thing, I know tht I am right. U will see, I know u will; God will show you the way. In this I have Faith. I dont expect u to follow, and I dont expect you to approve. Id been thinking about going East for years; really, since we moved away. I could not in good conscience, not as a human, not as a Christian, allow myself to be complacent and take the path laid out by Satan and his minions, the path tht leads to Evil and damnation. U never came with Ma and me to church. Pa didnt really come much, either; I know at the end, he was doing it to comfort Ma and make her feel better. After she passed on, he never

went back. But u, u never came, except when they made u at Christmas and Easter. Religion wasnt for u, u said. It never really stuck, u said. U were a Scottish Buddhist at heart, u said. If u were, Id be less worried. If u picked God up anywhere, Id be less worried. But u didnt. U just made fun. And thts ok, because I know that u have a good heart, good enough tht I know u will come around when the time is right. I know its late and ur the one who likes these dark hours, but the drill sergeant has me up on watch. Its hard to stay awake. Plus, I am worried about u. Your loving brother, in Christs Name, -s

From: ljphifer@yagle.com Sent: October 11, 2021 11:35AM To: sjphifer@ucsa.army.gv CC: BCC: Subject: RE:RE: RE: Goodbye, but not forever _________________________________________________________________________ _____ OMG, Simon; really OH-EMM-GEE. And I say that with the complete and utter conviction that you will not for one second understand the sarcastic implications of that little abbreviation. Simon, Im not the one who is misguided, YOU are. YOU, little brother (by 47 minutes, not by height, I know, THATS what YOU wont let ME forget). Dont try to say that this is for me or for Ma, cause its not, its for YOU and your overly-zealous attitude. Youre going about this all wrong, youre not thinking, youre just jumping in. Im sad about this Simon, and Im pissed, and Im disappointed. But mostly, Im afraid. Afraid of whats gonna happen to you, to us. We shared a womb, we grew up side-by-side, and I thought that I knew you, knew YOU better than I know ME. Apparently not. I know about the whole christ thing, and I dont really give a shit about it, never have. You have your little mythologies that you need to call on to help you feel better about Ma dying, about moving, about who-knows-what-the-fuck, and thats OK. But going East. going East and joining up? I wont be joining you. The United Christian States of America is no place for a woman. At least, not one who likes to use her brain and exercise free-will.

Chapter 1
Theres only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners to either tax them or take them. -Wayne LaPierre, First Martyr, former Executive Vice President and CEO of the National Rifle Association Speech to the Weatherby Foundation International Hunting and Conservation Awards 2013

My sister. She means well, and has a kind heart, but she is wrong. Pa is wrong, too, but he sees with both eyes open. He grew up in the land of the Righteous, grew up in a house of worship, grew up learning to hunt at Paw-Paws knee, grew up with a rifle in one hand and Bible in the other. He has forsaken the truth, and, though it saddens me, he will be left to his own fate. God shall judge him; I only hope not too harshly. And now, of course, I feel guilty. Who am I to hope or not hope for Gods will to move one way or another. He is God, and He will know what best to do. Basic training was rough, but not as bad as Id come to expect. Physical training with a group of like minded young men, I was able to let their brotherhood, spirituality and conviction help carry me through, and as I relied on them, I found that they relied on me as well. I was the highest rank in my bunk, and by default the leader of that group of happy boys. They were not men yet, but would be, sooner than any of us would have liked. Even though my education was one that was supplied in the West, Id been allowed to enter basic combat training as a specialist. This really does no good if those in your unit dont respect you - not that anyone would come out and show any insubordination. We of the Easter Army would never do such a thing. But if a senior officer did not command the full confidence of his subordinates, he might not expect things to run as smoothly or as efficiently as he would like. Those in my platoon? They made sure that everything ran like clockwork. Ours was the only sargent who yelled at us a mere half the time. We all knew that he had to yell at us every once in awhile in order to keep up appearances, but we worked well together, and we knew what we had to do. We were the new swords of God, and we did not want to let Him down. The entire company seemed to be burning with the fervor of the just and virtuous. We were men brought together to fight not our brothers and sisters of the left, but to fight the Devil himself. Our lives were radiant, our days filled with honest labor and physical works, our evening over run with humor and prayerful meetings. I was an oddity at camp. No one else knew anyone who as from the West, other than distant relatives. The state of the union (or it was a non-union now, I suppose) was such that everyone knew someone peripherally on the opposite side, but few had any close friends or relatives over there. When I showed up at the gate, my duffle on my back and my Book in my hand, I was welcomed as a long lost son of the Republic and brought in from the cold. Not that it was physically cold in Oklahoma in the middle of the summer, but I had been spiritually frozen until that moment. Now everyone knew who I was and wanted to know what it was like Over there. Were there orgies every night that we were forced to partake in as soon as we grew hair in all the right place? Was there mandatory bible burning bonfires on the beaches? Did we all really have to know Spanish and Mandarin just so we could go shopping? Were we all vegans?

I filled them in as best as I could, letting them know that life was much the same as here. Here being the East, that is, Fort Sill was anything but like what Id seen growing up. As I continued to answer questions, I was taken aside one afternoon. The gentleman was in a well-cut officers uniform, but there was no rank, no insignia, nothing that would even note which branch of the military he represented. It was as if it was a blank slate, waiting for someone to fill out the uniform with all the proper bells and whistles. The only thing I saw was a cross on either lapel, one bone white, the other ebony black. I would later learn that this was military intelligence, an organization that had been converted from the of nations FBI, CIA and NSA, then rolled into one. I learned this because that was where my training was taking me, though I didnt realize it at the time. The man - a man whose name I did not know, nor would I ever find out, this man on average height, of average skin tone, of average hair color, he talked to me for a good long while. He thought that perhaps there would be a bit more benefit to to the East if I didnt focus on how much alike East and West were. He thought that perhaps, just perhaps, and only if I wanted, that when asked questions, I should tell them more about the differences. More about the reasons why there had been an armed insurgency in what had once been Washington D.C., more about the he didnt want to call them infidels, but the misguided and their insidiously evil ways. He said that it was only a suggestion, saluted me as if I were an officer, then crisply turned and walked away. From that point on, I made sure that my compatriots knew of the taxes taken from the wealthy and given to the undeserving, the lack of God in society, of the murders of the unborn, and of the loss of basic Liberties. People were not free in the West, they only appeard to be. A free man would not let his rifle be stripped of him. A free man would not let infanticide continue. I was not free before. I was not free until I crossed the threshold into Fort Sill, and into the arms of the Righteous.

Chapter 2

See what I did in Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Obey fully, keep my covenant. Then out of all the earth you will be my treasured possession, a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation -Exodus 19:4

Dear Madam: The existing ideological disaster that has so hewed this country brings a potent mix of caustic and viscous components that has brought about a time of one of the greatest sorrows in the history of our nation. I am speaking, of course, of the loss of Boulder, Colorado, but also in general terms about the loss of our nation as a whole. There will be more bloodshed, and soon; the gravity of this state of affairs shows the need for speed in potential actions that could help to solve this crisis, by those who have candid attitudes before the ideological atomic weapon goes critical.

Please, madam, please help me to entertain the idea of a political end to these struggles. It is in good faith that I write to you, faith in myself, faith in you, faith in God. You and I are not so much alike we each want what is best for our sorely-divided nation. I am willing to forgive your status as a false, President, Madam, if only you help me end these hostilities. I do not fault you for rising up and leading those who you believe are correct in their ways, for who am I to judge who the lord has placed in my path? I ask that you take one step towards me, and I shall take one step towards you. Let us lay down our arms and meet and discuss what has spurred the cleavage of this once-great nation. On Saturday, September the second, let us meet in a virtual arena. Let us hold a town hall so that we may ask and answer the questions we may have for one another, that the people may have for us Let us meet for two hours, you in your studio, I in mine and let us see if we cannot make some headway towards peace. Let us do this for each other, and for the country. I do not believe it to be two countries; for the United Christian States of America is what our forefathers truly envisioned. Let us choose our moderators, three in all, Right, Center, and Left. I do not blame you, I only wish to save you. You and our lost brothers and sisters in the East An immediate reply would be appreciated. Most Sincerely Yours,

Abraham Ryan
Abraham Ryan Apostle-President, United Christian States of America

Chapter 3
Embrace your failings. Studiously avoid euphemism. Reverse your projections. Look up, not down. Criticize yourself. Find honest friends. Listen to the criticism. Take the outside view. - Aaron Swartz, Internet Freedom Fighter August 29, 2012

Fuck. I was more than a little pissed. Wed been called back around to join up with another squad outside of Cedar Rapids, and the squad just wasnt there. Our uplink showed that they were 150 klicks north east. Ever since most of the satellites came down, tech was spotty at best. Sure, we were better off than the grunts were fifty years ago, but that didnt mean that SNAFU wasnt still a thing. The satellites came down - that sounds like it was nice and peaceful. They didnt just come to land, they were either shot out of the sky or used as massive projectiles against soft targets. It wasnt a pretty thing. Those werent starts you wanted to wish upon. This was not a pretty war. I know that Simon doesnt know it, but I was there. I was at Boulder. Well, I was outside of Boulder - no one who was actually in the city made it out. We saw to that. So did Simons new family. So did the Chinese. We were all a little guilty that day. Cap, what do you want us to do?

My staff sergeant was getting antsy. He never liked to be in one place for too long; hed had a lot of near misses under his belt. Plus, he didnt like a Captain hanging out with his squad. Bad luck, he called it. Im not sure he wasnt wrong. Sergeant Remmers, Ill let you know as soon as I let you know, I said, probably more tersely than I needed to. Mo was a good sergeant, he watched after those under him with an eagle eye and a lions ferocity. He wanted to make sure that his boys and girls got home safely. Mohammed wouldnt have been welcome in the Eastern military, simply because of his name. Even though the jihadists had stopped thinking of the USA as relevant since the Great Division, those in the East still liked to play up their little propaganda pieces about Muslim terrorists. There hadnt been an attack against either the USA or the UCSA in years - hell there hadnt even been any threats. They were focused on China now, gnawing on the heels of the new big dog. I popped my head up from behind the wall wed taken refuge behind. Nothing on IR, other than rabbits, no blips on any spectrum, really. We were alone. No one was in the farmhouse behind us either. from the looks of things, no one had been in there in years. Command, this is Captain Leeza Phifer, what are your orders? I only had to speak in a whisper, Ok, Remmy, lets go ahead and set up in the house. The diagnostics say the frame is in good shape, bones are solid. We need a place to bunk down for the night and thats as good a place as any. The good little soldier nodded and sent word to the squad; we made sure to check our refractive cloaks before we moved. Wed be invisible to the naked eye, but only if we were fully covered. We just had to hope that no one was looking for body heat. I should have realized it was too much to hope for. I was usually good at analyzing threat assessments, both internal and external. After a 24 hour overland slog, I was tired. The pills can only do so much, sleep wasnt completely replaceable yet. Id gotten sloppy, and hadnt recognized the trap until after it was nearly sprung.

Chapter 4
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. -Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength to Love, 1963

This is a fight. It is a fight that was unasked for, but here, nonetheless. The Right makes the Constitution a complete caricature of what it is supposed to be.. They violate basic human rights, the rights of women, the rights of immigrants, the rights of the peaceful in order to make a fringe class of liberal thinkers humiliated and ostracized by the venomous methods of the Rights cultural and political leaders. Intellectuals write of them, but they do not publish them, not without hiding who they are. When this occurs, the leaders of the Right can point to them and call Coward and lies, and imprison Left thinking in a jail of anonymity, a jail built on the with the loud voices and skewed untruths of the Right.

With complete and total candor: if the aggregate sum of abuses of morality by the Right in the past few decades were articulated and matched with those of the Left, Right would be held most felonious in its actions. The indignant Right, the prosperous Right, the wicked Right the Right whose false morality is held as a shield while its contrite cruelties against the human condition its sword. I am by no means saying that all people who label themselves as conservative or Right are in the wrong; I am, of course, attempting to designate in a broad manner the Lefts antagonist. It is not meant to comprise the entirety of those people who are Rightward thinking, many have risen morally above radical conservative thought, and are disposed to work together towards a common goal, to become more rational, to find a common middle ground, and to assent to the fact that there will be differences in this society, and that is a society worth saving, worth pulling back from the brink that this war, this indignant, this sordid, this inane war has brought us to. No longer one united nation, no longer under god, no longer indivisible, we are here, and we fight, brother against brother, sister against sister, wife against husband. How long before we crush each other with the weight of nuclear weapons? How long before we spread diseases and destroy our cities, our countrysides, our parks and our playgrounds? All because the rabid, the radical Right would not give up their guns, all because they wanted to show the world that they were in charge of their bullets and their acts of carnage. All because my so-call Christian brothers (and brainwashed sisters) decided that a womans place was wherever a man said, that a womans body was an incubator, and By God, By All That is Holy, any infraction on that incubation was an infraction against morality. What is this hypocrisy that says that a woman seeking an abortion is punishable by death after her progeny has been born? They say that they are about the love of God, what is this hypocrisy that then makes them deny the love of two people of the same gender? Does not God state that Love is Love? To paraphrase the good Martin Luther King, Jr, It is not the Right per se that we fight, but the policies and ideologies of the Right power structure is still seeking to keep the walls of social justice, racial and gender equality, of inequities between the wealthy and the servant classes, substantively unbroken. It is the Rights backlash against progress that has brought us to this. It is the fearmongering and hate-fueling that has lead us into this dark time of war. Let us look for the light of reason, brothers and sisters. Let us look for the light of reason. -Sammey X, Small Time Blogger, excerpted from The New Massy Lectures, Pt 1 https://smalltimeblogger.rix

Chapter 5
We dont stop to think about ... religion. We stop to think about the threats and focus our efforts there." -Michael Bloomberg, Former New York Mayor and First Acting President of the United States of America 2011

I hadn't heard from Leeza in over a year. I knew that she'd joined up, though I prayed that she would be smart enough to stay behind the front lines. I knew that I was deluding myself - she and I were opposites in that way. I was the thinker while she tackled things head on. I assumed the Lord would protect her, would watch over her. "Phifer," a stone-laden voice growled, "what're you gonna recommend?" Big Roll like to play the part of the thug since he was built for it at 6 feet 3 and 275 pounds of beef-fed muscle. I've never seen him lose a game of chess, though, and I've never met anyone who wasn't three or more steps behind him. He was my better in rank in intellect and in mass. "Sir," I began. I was knocked out of my chair, then lifted up by my neck. I saw stars floating around my peripheral vision. Everything else was taken up by the obsidian giant's face, a face that was sporting a coldly tooth filled smile. "'Sir' doesn't work here. Never has, never will. Haven't broken you of that habit, but we will," the growling voice was low and guttural, "we will. Even if it kills you." Big Roll released his grip and I dropped unceremoniously to the floor. I stood, rubbing my neck, knowing that there would be a massive hand-shaped bruise forming. In military intelligence, we weren't allowed to dress for rank; we weren't even allowed to acknowledge it. There were subtle clues that we were trained to pick up on, mannerisms and speech patterns that indicated who stood where in the hierarchy. Generally, the meekest seeming, quietest person in the room held the greatest rank. Generally. "Answer the question, McGlow," Big Roll said. We were all given code names once we were inducted into the MI, given to us by our trainer and kept for life. The only person allowed to use your actual name was the person whod given you your handle. Once MI, always MI. "And stop touchin' your neck. Youll be fine." I dropped my hand and whispered the Lords Prayer under my breath. Some people counted to ten, I counted on my God. I know that the Apostle-President wanted my opinion, but Im really not... You are, Big Roll said, turning his attention back to the monitors. You are because he thinks you are. You came up with the idea in the first place, and you dropped it into his ear when no one else would. I sighed. Ive prayed on this, prayed hard, I began, ignoring Big Rolls derisive snort; he was not one of the religious. He just wanted his guns. I prayed, and I believe that the Lord put that idea into my head for a reason. I think that its the only way we can avoid an even worse outcome. He nodded. I could tell that he didnt envy my position. The decision I was being asked to make would cost the lives of over 200,000. I knew that the most Holy Ryan would make the final call, but if I hadnt come up with the plan, I felt sure that no one else would have either. Then there would be even more casualties. 200,000, as horrendous a number as that was, was better than two billion. My left hand twitched up to fiddle with the black cross on my lapel. Black and White - thats how everyone was supposed to see things, everyone but those of us in the MI. The black cross that my thumb was caressing, that was the cross that represented the wicked path. I wasnt sure if if this was a subconscious act or not, and I dropped my hand back down. Apostle President Abraham Ryans virtual figure appeared in the room. He looked solid enough, and there was no sound delay. The High Government could afford these sorts of technologies. Well, said the living ghost in a deep Texan drawl Well, son, what do you think? Can you see any other way out of the situation? I bowed my head and cast my eyes downward. Nossir. I think it might be the only way. May God have mercy on my soul and the souls of those who are soon to pass through Heavens Gate. I felt the slight weight of the holograms had rest on my shoulder. The tech really was good. A blessing unto you my son, for it should not be your burden to carry. This is in Gods plan. You are but the messenger. I looked up into the Most Holy Ryans eyes, and saw tenderness, forgiveness and redemption. And, son, if you think that I am relying upon your mind alone, then maybe you oughnt be in the Military Intelligence after all. He laughed, a clear and clean laugh. I am sorry, I know this isnt a matter to be taken lightly. But sometimes you need to laugh or you will be crippled with tears. His craggy, wizened face grew grim. Big Roll, lets get this started Big Roll began typing furiously on the translucent keyboard that was projecting from the bit drive. He was silent. This was unusual. Its time, the Apostle-President said, Operation Chow Mein is a go. Our leader was never one for subtleties nor cultural sensitivity. I hoped that God would forgive what I was responsible for unleashing.

Chapter 6
At the core, we are dealing with two parties that have fundamentally different views of the world -Karl Rove, Political Advisor, Speech to the Republican National Convention 2006

Illustrious guests, brothers, sisters, friends, families and those who may be following a less enlightened path, it is a true and right honor to be asked to speak here today, before you and before God Almighty. As a poor, lowly man humble servant and of the right Jesus Christ, son of God, son of Mary I am proud that you have chosen me to lead you in this time of great darkness and despair. I accept this post in this troubling time of need, and would share with you my views on this most judicious area, the topic of the so-called Left Revolution. There are those in the West who say it was we who brought about this change, this revolution when we took up our God-given right to arms and threw those in the former government into the streets and into the jails, but know this: they began the revolution in the most insidious of ways, through the written word of enacted amoral laws. Did they not try to tell us that it was not wrong to murder an innocent child simply because a woman could not be bothered to have Gods soulful child in her body? Did they not say that it was Gods will that a man should lay with a man, or a woman lay with a woman, and say that such a thing was not only a normal human act, but one that was as full of the righteousness of the spirit as that of a married man to lay with a married woman in the hopes of bringing another soul into this world? Did they not try to dull our senses with the most vile of noxious weeds, try to tell us that the fermented fruits of the Devil were good to cleanses the temple of ones body with? Did they not try to take our weapons of self defense, the weapons with which we should rightly and justly be able to defend our kith and kin, saying that we were naught but ineffectual children? Did they not say that the mothers of our children should be allowed to fight and be slaughtered and raped in battle? Did they not say these things, and more, put them into their laws, as if God Himself wished it? Brothers and sisters, we did not begin this battle. We were called forth to it, There are some issues I would like to discuss with you, if I might be so bold. Since we of the righteously Right minded have now shown that we will not be cowed by their laws, now that we comprise most of the Eastern and more southern states and are in rebellion against the antagonistic an immoral policies of what is left of the once-called United States of America since we ample people of the UCSA, will we allow them to continue to split this nation entirely, or shall we continue our current path towards reintegration and reassimilation into the land of the free and the home of the brave? The land that was built on Christian values? Will these wayward brothers and sisters realize that they have strayed of the path of upright morals and honorable values, and demand to be let back into the fold, or will they continue to follow the path of the wicked and unjust, and force us to act in accordance to Gods will? Will the subjugated and demoralized brethren of the West seek a reincorporation into a civil and just society or will these wicked folk attempt to defy us, and therefore defy the will of Our Lord? Tonight we meet at an mort vital time for our country. We persist in looking down the loaded barrel of a crisis, a crisis of faith, of freedom, of liberty, of law, a crisis which has millions of our families, our friends and those of our neighbors torn asunder and left wounded and helpless. This is the worst political crisis that has faced our nation in the history of this great and noble land, and there are those misguided few who have made things worse. There are millions of Americans in both the East and West who are watching this right now, and right now, they dont care about politics or religion or who has the moral high ground. They have real-life problems problems of life and death. They see that our brothers and sisters of the pretend government of the West do nothing but create a worsening situation. They see that Boulder was the fault of their own, that they alone allowed China to act in such a callous manner, that they lost on that front. And yet they continue to resist us. I hope that perhaps our brethren of faith, those in the lower castes of Western society will rise up and tell their leaders Enough! This is what is in my thoughts and prayers, though this is not what I expect to happen. It is with great sadness that I have come to expect the complete subjugation and human rights violations that are well known in the West to continue to strike fear in the hearts of the public.

In spite of of the disagreements weve had in recently, In spite of the disagreement we will have soon, coming together as One nation, Under God is what we need to do once again. You should tell your friends. You should tell your family. You should tell your neighbors. We will be United once again, united by law and by Gods will. I intend to make sure that this comes to pass, by love or by force. And I would implore - I would implore every single person who considers themselves American to rise up and sing out: tell your leaders in the West, tell them that you want to end this war now, that you want to come home now. We will accept you and embrace you, do not fear. You are our lost lambs, and we shall take care of you. Tell your false idols and despot leaders that you are done with this, that this war is no longer an option. Tell them that now, before it is too late and more blood has been shed. As the Wests most sacred president, the Muslim Obama, once said: Remind us that if we act as one nation and one people, we have it within our power to meet this challenge. These times have been trying, have been bloody, have been nigh unholy for this once great nation. But we are all Americans. We are stronger than our differences, stronger than our wars, stronger than our battles. With Jesus on our Left and God at our right, we can once again be that strong nation. Let us come together in prayer and peace and show ourselves and the world why the United Christian States of America will once again become the greatest nation on Earth. Thank you very much. God bless you, and God bless the United Christian States of America. -Abraham Ryan Apostle-President, United Christian States of America Speech to Joint Session of the Christian Congress, January 2023

Chapter 7
"Everybody says sex is obscene. The only true obscenity is war." Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer)

I managed to crawl away from the blast intact. Mostly. I passed out about the time that Remmy grabbed me under my armpits and pulled me further from the wreckage that once had been a farmhouse. There are flashes in my memory at this point. I remember Remmys voice telling me to buck the Fuck Up, Sir, and to not Fucking Quit ON Me Now, Sir, and that the squad had made it thanks to my warning. Then blackness, then the helicopter, then more blackness, though Remmys voice still managed to penetrate that dark veil. The light that streamed in under my eyelids, it was way too fucking bright. I wanted to go back to sleep, but the doctor kept talking to me. Captain, I know youre awake, the whitecoat said. There are some things we need to talk about. Now is better than later. He didnt have much of a bedside manner, I thought. Id learn later that his name was Doctor Warner Ruby, and that he was one of the best surgeons in the biz, and that he was a volunteer. I didnt know that now. Now I just wanted to sleep. Listen, maam, his voice was deep, but a little grating. I was pissed that he wasnt calling me sir. Maam was so last century and no longer in the regs. Maam, you need to open your eytes. Now. I sighed and did as I was told. His face wasnt overly unpleasant. It was a good, solid symmetrical face, though there was a large scar running diagonally down his forehead, thn jumping over his left eye and trailing off down his cheek. Id later learned hed run into a mine field after a child had wandered off; he saved the kid but nearly lost his eye. Captain Phifer, you... he began. I cut him off. I no longer have my left leg. I knew that before coming in. I figured it out when I had to tourniquet my left thigh before I crawled back to my squad. I rubbed my temples. Just slap one of them fancy new prosthetic legs on and let me get out of here. Theres a war on, in case you hadnt noticed. Doctor Ruby laughed. I liked his smile. His half Japanese features were pleasant to look at, especially while smiling. Id later learn that the rest of him wasnt unpleasant to look at either. And then

Id learn about his wife. Well, its good to see you have a grasp on the situation, Warner said. Many soldiers who come through here dont really have a clue. Still, you have options. I know what they are, I grumbled. I can either have the damned thing regrown, starting now then be out of commission for the next six months and never really have the same strength in my leg,- and no, 80% is not the same - or I get all cyborged up. Im going full cyborg. He glanced down at his sheet. This was a paper thing, fully pliable electronic pad, like the old iPads Pa liked to collect. Those were weak, breakable, and had no power in comparison. I need you to understand something about the leg, however - I again cut him off. I would later learn that he liked that, he did not really like talking to idiots. Listen - I know the routine. I have a week to get my leg growing, or that option is off the table permanently. Just get me a good leg, get me into some PT, and get me out of here. PT only lasted two months, and they were long, excruciatingly boring months. Excruciatingly boring coupled with lots of sex. Remmy did not approve, especially after I kept it up even when I found out he was married - I didnt care at that point, I just wanted to feel something other than bored. The doc was separated both mentally and physically from his wife, the divorce papers coming before I checked out. The first time it happened was when Warner came to my room to check on me a week after I got my new leg. The leg was kinda awesome, shiny and titanium, and could do things my other leg couldnt. I was still getting used to the neural interface an I was tired. Tired and horny. When Warner walked in the door, I attacked the other womans husband. All of my bridled annoyances, all of the guilt, all of the replays in my head of that moment the bomb went off, all of the anger that had been amassing in me exploding like the bomb that took my leg, and exploded all over the Doc. Literally, at one point. The platoon was off on assignment, I was languishing in the recovery bungalow, and Warner was making idle chit-chat about who the hell knows what while I was sitting on my bed flipping inattentively through various website when I couldnt stand it any longer. Without any hints, I jumped on him, tearing his white coat off of him, almost knocking him unconscious as I did so. Doctor Ruby had the faintly tanned skin of his mother, pulled taut over smooth flowing muscles. With clothes, he lwas just a guy, a regular guy, naked he was tasty. There was no bulk, he had the build of a runner, and a martial arts master. He wasnt really one, he just dabbled, but he dabbled enough for my taste. He was cut, a sharp statue of a man. His ropy vasculature rose in all the right spots on his arms. His scar enhanced his masculinity the scar from the violence of his own brush with explosives. I could eat that raised line of skin up, I enjoyed playing my fingers over it after sex. I was the animal to his animal, the tooth to his nail. I landed in his lap with a reverberating thump thanks to my unsteadiness. I played my lips over his trembling neck. Then I bit. He jumped with pleasure, and this got me even more turned on. I savagely kissed his mouth,my tongue dancing with his. I let my breath couple with his and I felt him grow hard and push against my crotch. Warner pulled away, and he stared at me. You have far too many clothes on, he whispered, then proceeded to remove them. Not in a polite, gentle, clinical manner either. I liked it. He wasnt shy; he countered my attacks with his own, each of us wanting to fuck, but wanting to play, too. It was all about the fun. Our eyes caught every once in awhile, making us pause, grin, then go in again. Our pupils were so completely dilated that they were essentially black. I wanted him, he wanted me, and that was all we needed. Our hearts drummed together while the adrenaline flooded our systems, and our senses focused on the moment at hand. On this cold winter evening, we were nothing by salt and heat. My shirt was a casualty of the encounter, ripped to shreds, and I liked it. My bra, too, was lost in the rush of his mouth, my breasts small, but pert, quivering and ready, my nipples like ripe berries on a summer day. He stood, and he lifted me. I locked my leg around him. His strength was surprising and welcome. I am not some skinny little woman, I am tall and strong, I have muscles and bulk. That he could hold me up without hesitation sent hot chills down my spine. He inhaled my chest as we fell to the bed. My nails pulled furrows down his back, my mouth tangled in his black hair.

I let myself glide down the good doctor, and I grasped his hardness with a playful tug. I rolled off to the side and untied his scrubs. I was going to show him what I could do with his loaded weapon. I was well trained by the Army. I ran my fingernails down his shaft, then flicked the tip of my tongue around the tip of his tip. He quivered. I liked it. I released him. I didnt want him to end too soon. I wanted what I wanted. I worked my way up his body, letting my wetness moisten his chest. As I moved up, I left his arms free, then locked my thighs around his head. He was ready, willing and able to satisfy me. And I was. Two months later, we were done with PT, I was done with him, and I joined my future husband back on the front lines. Remmy would always hate Doctor Ruby.

Chapter 8
"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. - The Bhagavad Gita and J. Robert Oppenheimer

No one knows who did it or how it started. Some say it was a Muslim Jihadist group, other say the Chinese, but most agree that it was either the East or the West. It could have been a combination of the two, who knows. I certainly dont. I came up with the solution, but I have no idea how the problem got started. East or West. Its not really quite that clear cut. When God showed me that I needed to move East, I had little grasp of what that would truly mean. I thought that there were clear-cut delineations, physically, morally, spiritually, emotionally - but I was wrong. God is bigger than clear cut. East was the ideological Christian Right. It encompassed all of the southern States of the civil war, Most of New Mexico, and parts of some of the more northern states. Boulder would be the new point from which the countries would be divide, but that would come later, after the tragedy. The West, what would still be known as the USA, was like a crab claw pinching down on the East, from DC north, spreading west down through the western half of New mexico. What surprised everyone was Arizonas insistence on staying within the USA. But this is about Boulder. It started with the flu. Not just any flu, but an engineered swine flu, one that was introduced by... someone. We arent sure who, as I said. It was bad, but not 99.99% fatal, 100% contagious bad. That came later. When it was mixed with a hint of anthrax, a pinch of small pox and the common cold. How these things got to Boulder and why that city was chosen, Ill never know. I doubt anyone will. I know it happened in the aftermath of the revelation that the first martyr was still alive, that his death had been faked in order to spur the takeover of the government of the USA by the East. The death of the First Martyr caused the president and most of congress to be killed outright, and touched off the shit-storm that was Gods wrath. And even though the fictional death of the First Martyr had happened, it was the Left that orchestrated the coup by the Right. What the Left hadn't counted on was it's success. They sought to discredit the religious Right, instead they became half complicit in the hewing of a country When the severity of the viral storm was discovered, the two governments began talking. They said that something had to be done. One army was on one side, the other army on the other. No one was to leave. There were many who tried, and all were killed. But it was going to get out. Thats when I suggested the nuke, may God forgive me. I said that it should not be one of ours, or one of theirs, but that of a neutral party ( not that China is exactly neutral, but close enough for now). I prayed long, I prayed hard before I suggested it, but in the end, I did. and in the end , both sides agreed. It wasnt a large weapon. It was tiny, in terms of actual physical size, but the tonnage was enough. Ive since found out that my sister was near, and was told to pull back when the bomb was incoming. She saw the flash. I feel that this was Gods gift to me. "Are you sure this is how you want to tell this story?" The woman was comely, attractive without meaning to be. Hers was one of the biggest news sites of the Right. She had God in her stories, though not

necessarily in her heart. I do think that the Creator brought her to me, though. She wanted the truth, the actual truth. She'd been played for propaganda too many times. "I'm sure," I said. My voice didn't betray my lack of certainty, and for that, I was grateful. "people need to know. I believe that our Lord would want the truth to be known." My few years in the MI had taught me that most people were cynics, were unbelievers clothed in the apparel of believers, that even the most righteous had their secrets. I didn't last as long in the Military Intelligence as they would have liked, but I was known enough and connected enough not to become one of the disappeared. I continued. "Boulder was a tragedy, a tragedy on the scale of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but don't be fooled by the scale of horror: things could have been much worse. I saw with my own eyes the insanity that was the disease. It was spread multifactorially, the disease lingered with incredibly debilitating and disfiguring sequelae, and it took a very long time for a person to die "Without drastic, extreme measures, this would have spread worldwide. Without Chinese intervention, intervention requested jointly, by both governments, civilization would have ended. If either the East or West had sent a bomb, nuclear annihilation of the entire North American continent would have ensued due to one side pointing the finger at the other. "Even with this joint resolution, those fingers were still pointed. The secrecy of the request allowed such unabashed lies to be told on both sides, each saying the other had gotten into bed with the newest dominating world power. "I've given you the recordings and the unredacted files as proof. You can show this to the world. "Even with the lies and the propaganda, this was the turning point in the war. The people were weary. They didn't care any more. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost, cities and infrastructures brought down. People just wanted - want - to find some sense of normalcy." I paused to take a sip of lemonade. "So," the reporter, Margaret, I want to call her, though I know that's not right, "why are you coming forward now? The last time battle was fought months ago. The war is essentially over, isn't it?" I nodded. "Essentially over isn't the same as over. Not-war isn't the same as peace. I am here because God told me to be here. I am here because I am tired. I am here because people need to know." I pushed the drive with the files across the table to her as I thumbed the cross I still kept on my lapel, his one half black, half white with a gray pin stripe down the center. There were hard copies of signed papers in the folder next to the drive as well. "You have the first copies of everything. In twenty-four hours, this will go to every other news outlet worldwide. I chose you because it has to come from us." She looked hardened, but driven. I'd chosen well. She would end the war for good. I stood and walked out, not expecting to live more than a day longer.

Chapter the Last In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good -Sun Tzu The old man and old woman stood at the base of the monument. The obsidian glinted in the sunlight, flat rocks stacked one on top of the other in a low wall, a wall that snaked around the original border of what had been Boulder, Colorado. It was a wall built with the black, glassy rock, built by many hands coming together and stacking the stones in the fashion of the old walls of western Ireland, with larger stones towards the base and smaller ones filling in the cracks and crevasses towards the top. The wall was not stable, and was not meant to be.

Every day, a pair of park rangers, one from the East, the other from the West, would circle the wall, looking for places that had fallen or become damaged. They would then fix what needed to be fixed and move on. The brother and sister did not talk. They rarely did in the years they had been coming since the end of the war. The fissures in the wall reminded them overly much of the fissures in their own relationship. The old woman winced. She rubbed the spot just above where her prosthetic leg was attached to her thigh. The old man instinctively reached out to help steady his sister. She patted his arm, grateful for the consideration. Things were better between them now, had been better for years. The sister thought that being the High Justice on the Ecclesiastical Court suited her little brother (she still never let him

forget that). The brother thought that Presidency sat well on her.
She stroked his cheek, looking into his eyes and finding herself reflect back. He hugged her, and was sad to let go. Each turned to walk away to their respective vehicles, each on their side of the border. This place, this once great city, this was the only soil that both nations shared. They would see each other again, probably at Thanksgiving, one of the few holidays that each country held in common. There would be children and grandchildren and one or two great grandchildren, nieces and nephews and food. There would be fights, playful and political, there would be food and drink. Mostly, in the end, there would be love.