The Final Battle

Ben and Tom sat by the mouth of the cave and listened intently to their Uncle Luke. The time to attack the last stronghold of the outlawed U.S.S.A. government was close. Washington DC would fall tonight. Over one million soldiers of the Armed Citizen Force were outside the barricaded city waiting for Luke’s order…

Ben, now 21 years old, and Tom 18, barely remember life before the cave. Fifteen years earlier Luke and his brother John had started the ACF. When John, the boys’ father, was killed in a raid on Ft. Dix, thirteen years ago, Luke raised them as his own, and as Lieutenants in the War on Tyranny. The last ten years living in the cave.

Luke asked if the electromagnetic pulse weapons were in place. Ready to take out all commutations and electronics within DC. The young men nodded in agreement. Everything was in place and victory was assured. Tom looked up and spoke, “Uncle Luke, I’ve heard many stories over the years about how this started. But you’ve never told us how you and our Dad got involved. Can you tell us now, before we face the final battle?

Luke had been prepared for this question. He didn’t want to tell them until they were ready. Until “they” asked. He reached into his rucksack for his Winslow pipe. Packed it with his favorite tobacco and took long drags. He stared at the sky for several minutes putting his thoughts in order.

“Boys”, Luke began. “When the government sold GM, Dodge and Ford to Japan, most people accepted the fact that Toyota was the only auto you could buy anymore. In 2011 when Harley took a loan from the government things heated up a little. But assurances were made that the Motor Co. would continue as normal. Weeks later, when news surfaced that the Congress had officially changed the name of our country to the “United Socialist States of America” and had sold Harley Davidson to a Chinese company, things really got hot”.

Luke relit his pipe and continued. “Within a week there were riots and looting at every Harley dealer in the country. Law enforcement was powerless to stop it. I still think they didn’t want to stop it. They were just as mad as we were. That’s when your father and I, along with our HOG chapter formed the “Armed Citizen Force”. Our objective was to take out any Chinese owned company on American soil. Before long we had HOG chapters across the country joining”.

The sun was beginning to fade behind the mountain. Luke looked at his nephews and grinned. They would be part of history. “When they deployed the National Guard to stop us, that was their biggest mistake. The government had no idea how many “Soldiers for Harley” there were in the backwoods and bayous of America. Most of them were secretly smuggling weapons to the ACF. One by one, military installations were controlled by the ACF. Our numbers grew daily. A lot of U.S.S.A officials tried to flee overseas. Most never made it. That brings us to the here and now boys. The day we restore the country your father loved and died for”.

It was now completely dark outside. The three of them packed their gear on three rusted but freshly serviced Harleys and headed down the mountain. The lights of DC glowed like demon candles as they approached the onetime Capital that was now a fortress. The soldiers of the Armed Citizen Force stood in silence and saluted as they rode past. The time was now. Tonight they would give birth to a new Nation.