It was going to be another beastly hot day in Shelton. The pavement in the City Hall parking lot protested against the searing heat despite the early hour of the morning.

Julie Dawson walked confidently towards the main gate that would grant her access to the icy tomb that her once enjoyable workplace had become. Despite the foreboding since of oppression that would soon befall her, she was happy. The more she thought about how she was helping her friends the more she felt alive inside.

As she approached the guard checkpoint she was pleased with herself and the successful transfer of information to her contact. The thumbdrive she smuggled out contained the information she was sure would do the Troopers harm.

Stepping up to the checkpoint she waited for the standard process to begin.

“Morning Dawson” grunted one of the more thuggish Troopers.

With an air of dismissal Julie barely acknowledged his presence.

As the unpleasant man went through the ritual of comparing her ID badge to her face Julie looked anywhere but at the man’s eyes. She could feel him leering at her with a look that only generated disgust.

“Well Dawson. Looks like we have a date today. The scanner is broken so we’re doing check’s manually”.

Knowing there was no winning the fight, she allowed herself to look in the Troopers general direction she spat out, “Very well”. She had been through the process before and hated every second of it. At nearly every airport across the country other women preformed physical pat-downs of women as common courtesy. This would not be the case at Shelton’s City Hall complex.

Stepping forward she handed her purse to a different Trooper, raised her arms to shoulder height and mental checked out. She felt waves of disgust rising through her as the Troopers hands coarsely ran from her hips up to her armpits. There was no attempt at modesty or hint of restraint in his touch.

His hands soon roamed across her chest. He made no effort to disguise what he was doing. To add an extra touch of humiliation, the Trooper purposely paused as his hands were underneath her breasts. Fiery waves of anger shot though her body as she screamed internally against the violation.

She stared straight ahead, eyes locked on a random part of the City Hall building, waiting for the humiliation to end. Soon his hands roamed over her buttocks and then down her legs. She had never noticed the fallout shelter sign above that particular entrance to the building before. Her gaze remained locked on the sign as the final, and most humiliating part of the search was performed.

“Alright baby, you’re clean,” the Trooper laughed as scribbled a note on some unseen document on his clipboard.

Julie took her purse from the outstretched hand of a different Trooper and walked from the gate utterly ignoring her tormentor’s leering stare.

“Thank God I wasn’t dumb enough to bring that thumbdrive into the building, just out,” she said to herself with a surprising humor given the circumstances of the past few minutes.

She wasn’t sure what she dreaded more, the humiliating groping at the checkpoint or having to work for Alec Lehman.

****

Despite his traitorous and vindictive ways, one had to be impressed with Jackson Crutchfield’s willingness to take risks and bold military creativity. It was an interesting paradox as his Liberal mindset led him to loathe the military at any time other than when it served his needs. But despite his self-serving appreciation for his fighting men, he was willing to listen to their suggestions and ideas.

Crutchfield had been set on his heals after a significant setback during an invasion of Kentucky. After quick successes through Pennsylvania and Ohio an abortive attempt to steamroll through Kentucky and into Tennessee was smashed when his leading armor elements overextended themselves and opened the door to counterattack. He was in a tough position where he had to strike boldly, but in doing so exposed himself to larger chances of set backs. His gamble failed to pay off.

Foreign powers, all unsympathetic to America’s best interests, made the decision to start funneling money and supplies in the Crutchfield’s war machine despite the disaster in Kentucky. Utilizing a number of means, both electronic and through more traditional routes, the fuel of war started pouring in through ports along the Great Lakes and ports in the North East. The supplies were still muted until Crutchfield could prove himself further, but they were assistance nonetheless.

President Alan had been slow to use the power of the United States Navy to blockade the North East. Further, much of the Navy had still been deployed around the world in an attempt to protect America’s far-flung interests in place of the Army and Marines. It was a patchwork solution to a bad situation as the ground forces had returned to America to deal with the internal crisis. Much of the Navy was tied up in and around the Persian Gulf desperately trying to protect oil shipments as America’s enemies in the region conspired to shut off the vital lifeblood.

To further complicate matters, Crutchfield miraculously lured one aircraft carrier group and a number of attack and ballistic missile submarines to his cause. While nowhere near as large as the Presidents forces, they were just potent enough to keep the Presidents depleted naval power at bay. In essence, there was a naval stalemate.

So he and his military council crafted a new plan. They didn’t have the military strength to go head-to-head with the Presidents troops in and around the Virginias and Maryland areas. The Presidents decision to marshal his strength there was turning out to be a wise move. This eliminated the chances for an attack from New York or Pennsylvania, which reduced Crutchfield’s options greatly.

West Virginia was deemed too mountainous and wooded for any attack to succeed. They already had the support of Chicago and the northern part of Illinois, along with Indiana, so a further drive into southern Illinois wouldn’t accomplish much either. It was becoming clearer that Kentucky was the new battlefield for this war and would offer the best chance for advance.

That is where his attack would center.