Chapter 4

Miles Matheson was a tough son of a bitch.

He had experienced tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and of course, being the General of the Monroe militia, but nothing prepared him for the events that had happened in the last two months.

After the tower, and trying to get back the little bit of a so called normal life, soldiers in khaki came strolling into town with a promise of a better America.

Oh, he knew they were up to no good from the second he saw them.

And now, another two months later, after his brother comes strolling into town with his niece by his side he's in another battle for survival but this time he's alone.

He stands in a field, in front of an old willow tree, just outside the town's borders. The sun has just come up only an hour ago and yet the rays feel warm already. It was still not spring weather and winter had not been easy, at least not to him.

"Charlie should be back soon. I know you're mad at me for letting her go with Bass but we had no choice. Needed someone to keep an eye on him. But I know he'll keep her safe. He promised me he would. If he doesn't, he knows I'll kill him."

He paused.

"So… How did we end up here?"

Miles looks down on the not so fresh grave.

Rachel Matheson – Loving daughter and mother

It's been a month since it happened. After the tower Rachel Matheson was not the same. It was the final straw that took her to the edge and one night she finally went over it.

All it took was some rope really - and some whisky - for courage, and she used them both. No one knew if she suffered or was in any real pain, and there was no way to do an autopsy anymore. But, everyone agreed that she finally found peace.

Now, a month later, Miles stands in front of her grave with flowers in his hand. He visits almost every day when he can but these past few days have been harder than usual with Charlie and Bass gone to get the reinforcements they needed to fight the patriots.

He sits on the grass and then leans back, on the tree. Maybe he can finally close his eyes and rest a bit. Yes. He's tired.

Dreams started to overcome him.

10 YEARS EARLIER. PHILADELPHIA.

It had been a night to remember.

Good music, the food was okay, but he would pay top dollar for his favorite burger just about now, and the women were exceptional.

Most memorable of it all was that it was the night before they would finally execute their plan to take over the Georgia Federation.

Once that was over maybe they could finally bring some sort of peace and sanity, use the Georgia Federation recourses to build a better life for the people of the republic. After all, that was their vision when they started this whole thing: Bring some sort of order back to a world filled with darkness.

But tonight, he let himself cut loose a little bit and celebrate.

The one thing Miles was never stingy about was booze and that was the only reason the scotch and whisky were flowing all night long.

Feeling a bit dizzy after too much to drink he stumbled out of the ballroom and walked across the hall to the living quarters. His bedroom was not far from his and Bass's office since he always wanted to be available in case anything happened. Plus, he was kind of too lazy to walk that far any way.

A woman's scream woke him up suddenly from his drunken haze and he started running towards it.

With his sword in his hand, and as drunk as he was, he was always ready for a fight.

"How could you? You Bastard!"

The voice sounded familiar but he couldn't recognize it.

The double doors burst open and instantly he saw the screaming woman running through them.

"Great." He had said to himself as he recognized the woman. "How did Bass screw up this time?"

Miles walked through the double doors and saw his half-naked best friend with a more-than-naked woman on his office chair.

"Idiot!"

"This is not what it looks like." Bass said as he was scattering to find his pants.

"Really? You're gonna try that line with me?"

Miles looked at the woman and yelled, "Get dressed and get out!" Then he turned back to Bass.

"How could you do this to Shawna? The one thing that was good and you screw it up with some bimbo!"

"I know. I had too much to drink and I wasn't thinking."

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Dammit!" Bass banged his hand hard on the table with fury.

PRESENT

Miles woke with a startle. He didn't know if it was the dream or the loud noise that he heard that woke him up. All he knew was that he had to get up and head back to town because from what he saw in the distance, he needed to get there fast.