CHAPTER I

RED DAWN

Hamburg, Pennsylvania. It was a quiet day like any other. Colonel John Ashville was on vacation, enjoying some quality time off, away from the base, in his hometown. His mother quickly took advantage of this and asked him to help around the farm. Johnny could have said no but the horrors he witnessed in World War II were nothing compared to his mother's wrath. He had no choice on the matter.

On his way to the convenience store to get a bag of fertilizers, Johnny was admiring the peaceful countryside landscape. When he would retire, he would settle down around these parts or places similar to them. After all the commotion and stress he had been through and was going to go through still, he preferred to spend the last years of his life somewhere quiet and tranquil.

When he got into town, he went straight to the store, parking right in front of the entrance. "Hello Johnny" Mr. Crook, the owner, greeted him cheerfully. "Out for some shopping today?"

"Yeah. I need some fertilizers. My mom is all crazy with the crops this year. I think she's developing OCDs."

"Yeah well, you can't blame her green thumb. When it hits you it hits you. Fertilizers are way back near the utilities son."

"Thanks Mr. Crook."

Going where Crook guided him, Johnny found what he was looking for very quickly. Hr grabbed one of the larger bags and headed back to the counter.

"Will that be all son" Crook asked.

"Yes sir."

A beautiful blonde woman joined them, waiting for her turn to pay. The two men did not really mind her.

"So how's the service going" Mr. Crook asked. "Are they still sending you on missions?"

"Only routine check-ups and order enforcement. We don't get to see a lot of action anymore ever since the end of the war."

"Excuse me" the woman stepped in. "You fought in the war?" She was visibly excited.

"Not just fought" Mr. Crook answered. "He was part of the contingent that took out Commie Moscow itself. You're looking at a full-fledged war hero ma'am."

"Wow, that is so amazing" she uttered impressed, gazing at Johnny with awe and admiration. Her lips formed a shy but yearning smile, expressing some kind of a desire to know him better.

Johnny knew what her smile was all about. Yet he couldn't respond in the same manner. Not while old memories crept back to surface, scratching and clawing his heart. He was instantaneously filled with longing, feeling an ardent sensation of ache combined with lust. He was well aware that the whole inside of him had little chances to be filled. However, he learned to repress all these emotions. Besides, he was military. Ignoring the pain was one of his specialties.

Suddenly, loud engines roared from afar. Johnny recognized them. They were aircraft engines, probably belonging to a large planes or something similar. The thing was that they sounded really loud, like they were flying close to the ground. Why could they be doing that?

Then came the voices of panicked people on the streets, which really turned on Johnny's inner danger alert. Something was wrong.

"What in the devil is going on out there" Mr. Crook said. They went outside to inspect the disturbance. What they saw terrified them beyond reason.

Johnny had been right. There were planes. And they were dropping thousands of parachutists, all of them armed with AK 47s. But what really made Johnny drop his jaw and gape like an idiot was the symbol on the planes. The star, the hammer and the sickle. USSR. The soviets.

Johnny had a lot of questions but knew that lying around and trying to figure out the answers was useless. He answered the only question he needed to answer: 'Were soviet forces on US soil? Yes!' He realized he had to act quickly.

"Get back inside" he told Crook and the woman, who were frightened and trembling with fear. "Lock the door, hide, and grab anything you can to protect yourself. Go!"

The two followed his demand and rushed inside the store. Johnny entered his car. He had already planned his next moves. First, he had to get to his mom and make sure she was all right. Pushing the gas pedal to the limit, he sped all the way back to the farm. The streets were dominated by mass panic as people ran terrified in all directions. Johnny almost hit a couple of them in his rush to get back to his mother. Not to mention bumping the other cars on the road.

When he reached the farm, he saw three soviet parachutes lying around in the cornfield. His heart stopped. His attention was drawn by voices coming from the house. He snuck below one of the windows and lifted his head just enough so he could throw sneak peeks inside. The living room was occupied by three of the same soldiers Johnny witnessed jumping from the airplanes. No sign of his mother tough. Perhaps they didn't find her yet. Nevertheless, the Colonel had to take the trash out of the house.

One of the conscripts in the living room heard a faint whistle coming from the window. He approached to check it out. As he stuck his head outside for a thorough look, he saw a boot heading straight to his face. His fellow soldiers watched as he was dragged outside. They trained and discharged their weapons, emptying their magazines while they were at it. Ceasing fire, they got close to see if they hit something. Just then, Johnny leaped in front of the living room's threshold and shot them with the first conscript's AK. He killed them with only 10 rounds. Afterward, he checked to see if they were dead.

As he was inspecting their gear, he heard a crackle from behind. In a blink of a second, Johnny turned around and pointed his weapon forward. However, he immediately pulled back when he saw his mother. "Oh thank God you're all right" he embraced her, relieved.

"When I saw those guys parachuting, I knew it wasn't a good sign so I hid in the basement. Then I heard gunshots and I thought you got back and were in trouble."

"It's OK mom, they're dead" the Colonel assured her.

"What's going on Johnny?"

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out. In the mean time I want you in the bunker. Mom, no! No buts. It's the safest place you can be right now. And you have plenty of food and water there to last you a whole year."

"Johnny, I…"

"Mom please! Don't argue with me. Just go."

She reluctantly accepted. "Just be careful out there Johnny" she said while hugging him with all her affection. She had hoped that the days when she worried about whether her son would return home or not would never come again. Now she found herself embracing him, hoping that this was not the last time they were going to see each other.

"I love you!"

"I love you too mom."

Now that he knew his mother was going to be all right, the next course of action for Johnny was to reach the closest military base and discover what the hell was going on…