From The Ashes: America Reborn (26 page)

• Our welfare system was a disgrace, public housing was a profane joke, our highways and bridges were falling apart, the hands of the police were tied, the cops and schoolteachers were underpaid—the cops couldn’t enforce the law because of judges, and teachers couldn’t teach or maintain discipline for fear of lawsuits—drug dealers were peddling death on the street corners and killing innocent people who got in their way and the government was sending out agents to disarm law-abiding citizens.

• The whole damn world was going to hell in a handbasket.

ON THE REBELS

• What you really haven’t grasped is that all that stands between anarchy and order is a very thin line of men and women called the Rebels.

• We are going to free the world from savagery and oppression and fear.

• There were no free rides in any of the Rebels’ communities. If a person was able to work, they worked, or they were kicked out.

• It was not a society that everyone could live in. Those who kept statistics on such matters agreed that perhaps one in five could live in a Rebel-controlled zone.

• . . . if respecting the rights of other law-abiding citizens, being good caretakers of the land, and seeing to it that entire species of animals are not wiped out due to man’s greed and ignorance is brainwashing, I’ll accept that accusation.

• The Rebel dream is to rebuild this nation. To have schools and hospitals and churches and libraries. To once more be able to produce. To build something for future generations. Outlaws and warlords and roaming gangs of thugs and punks and dickheads have no place in that society we dream of. None at all. We didn’t tolerate them in the old Tri-States, and I will not tolerate them now.

ON THE TRI-STATES

• Our system of justice was harsh. It was a one-mistake society. But no one went hungry in the Tri-States. Not one person. No one was denied proper medical care. Everybody had a job. The taxes were fair. We didn’t allow huge corporations to swallow up the smaller farmer. We had damn few complaints from the people who chose to live in the Tri-States.

• No one went hungry, no one was homeless, everybody had a job, no one was denied medical care, every child got a good education, and the life expectancy of thieves and punks and thugs and rapists and murderers was about fifteen minutes.

PART THREE

The Tri-States

White Paper

A Rebel Manifesto

For a Free and Vital

America

For some time I have had this theory that we should start from scratch. Gather up a group of people who are color blind and as free of hate and prejudices as possible and say, All right, folks, here it is:

—We are going to wash everything clean and begin anew.

—We will create a simple, easily understood system of laws.

—We will live by the letter of these laws.—We will enforce these laws equally, to the letter!

Those of you who feel you can live in a society that eradicates prejudices, hatred, hunger, bad housing, bad laws, and will not tolerate crime, please stay. Those of you who don’t feel you could live under such a system—get the hell out!

–Ben Raines

THE TRI-STATE MANIFESTO

AS ADVOCATES AND SUPPORTERS OF THE TRI-STATE PHILOSOPHY, WE BELIEVE:

• THAT FREEDOM, LIKE RESPECT, IS EARNED AND MUST BE CONSTANTLY NURTURED AND PROTECTED FROM THOSE WHO WOULD TAKE IT AWAY

• IN THE RIGHT OF EVERY LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN TO PROTECT HIS OR HER LIFE, LIBERTY, AND PERSONAL PROPERTY BY ANY MEANS AT HAND WITHOUT FEAR OF ARREST, CRIMINAL PROSECUTION, OR LAWSUIT. THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS IS CENTRAL TO MAINTAINING TRUE PERSONAL FREEDOM

• THAT LIBERAL POLITICIANS, THEORISTS, AND SOCIALISTS ARE THE GREATEST THREAT TO FREEDOM-LOVING AMERICANS AND THAT THEIR MISGUIDED EFFORTS HAVE CAUSED GRAVE INJUSTICES IN THE FIELDS OF CRIMINAL LAW, EDUCATION, AND PUBLIC WELFARE:

THEREFORE IN RESPECT TO CRIMINAL LAW:

AN EFFECTIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM SHOULD BE GUIDED BY THESE BASIC TENETS:

—OUR COURTS MUST STOP PAMPERING CRIMINALS

—THE PUNISHMENT MUST FIT THE CRIME

—JUSTICE MUST FAIR BUT ALSO BE SWIFT AND, IF NECESSARY, HARSH

—THERE IS NO PERFECT SOCIETY ONLY A FAIR ONE

THEREFORE IN RESPECT TO EDUCATION: EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO SOLVING PROBLEMS IN THE SOCIETY AND THE LACK OF IT IS THE
ROOT CAUSE
OF AMERICA’S DECLINE.

AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION:

—MUST STRESS HARD DISCIPLINE ALONG WITH THE ARTS, SCIENCES, FINE MUSIC, AND BASIC SKILLS IN READING, WRITING, AND MATHEMATICS

—MUST TEACH FAIRNESS AND RESPECT

—MUST TEACH MORALS, THE DIGNITY OF LABOR, AND THE VALUE OF FAMILY

THEREFORE IN RESPECT TO WELFARE:

WELFARE (WE PREFER
WORKFARE
) IS RESERVED ONLY FOR THE ELDERLY, INFIRM, AND THOSE WHO NEED A
TEMPORARY
HELPING HAND AND THE WELFARE SYSTEM MUST ALSO:

—INSTILL THE CONCEPT OF HONEST WORK FOR HONEST PAY

—INSTILL THE CONCEPT THAT EVERYONE WHO CAN WORK MUST WORK AND BE FORCED TO WORK IF NECESSARY

—INSTILL THE CONCEPT THAT THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH AND THAT BEING PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS IN A FREE SOCIETY IS THE ONLY HONORABLE PATH TO TAKE

• THAT RACIAL PREJUDICE AND BIGOTRY ARE INTOLERABLE IN A FREE AND VITAL SOCIETY

—NO ONE IS WORTHY OF RESPECT SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN.

—RESPECT IS EARNED BY ACTIONS AND BY DEEDS, NOT BY BIRTHRIGHT.

—THERE ARE ONLY TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE ON EARTH, DECENT AND INDECENT. THOSE WHO ARE DECENT WILL FLOURISH, THOSE WHO ARE NOT WILL PERISH.

—NO LAWS LAID DOWN BY A BODY OF GOVERNMENT CAN MAKE ONE PERSON LIKE ANOTHER.

• A FREE AND JUST SOCIETY MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS EVEN IF IT MEANS SHEDDING THE BLOOD OF ITS CITIZENS. THE WILLINGNESS OF CITIZENS TO LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR THE BELIEF IN FREEDOM IS A CORNERSTONE OF TRUE DEMOCRACY; WITHOUT THAT WILLINGNESS THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY WILL SURELY CRUMBLE AND FALL INTO THE ASHES OF HISTORY.

THEREFORE:

—ALONG WITH THE INALIENABLE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS, AND THE INALIENABLE RIGHT TO PERSONAL PROTECTION, A STRONG, SKILLED, AND WELL-EQUIPPED MILITARY IS ESSENTIAL TO MAINTAINING A FREE SOCIETY.

—A STRONG MILITARY ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR “ALLIES,” ALLOWING THE SOCIETY TO FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF ITS CITIZENS.

—THE BUSINESS OF CITIZENS IS NOT THE BUSINESS OF THE WORLD UNLESS THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS ARE INFRINGED UPON BY OUTSIDE FORCES.

—THE DUTY OF THOSE WHO LIVE IN A FREE SOCIETY IS CLEAR, PERSONAL FREEDOM IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.

IN CONCLUSION:

WE WHO SUPPORT THE TRI-STATE PHILOSOPHY AND LIVE BY ITS CODE AND ITS LAWS PLEDGE TO DEFEND IT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. WE PLEDGE TO WORK FAIRLY AND JUSTLY TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN A SOCIETY IN WHICH ALL CITIZENS ARE TRULY FREE AND ARE ABLE TO PURSUE PRODUCTIVE LIVES WITHOUT FEAR AND WITHOUT INTERVENTION.

APPENDIX

WEAPONS, ARMAMENT, LAND
 
VEHICLES, AND MILITARY
 
AIRCRAFT APPEARING IN THE
 
ASHES SERIES

During his long journey around a shattered world after the nuclear holocaust, Ben Raines made it a point to collect and use a wide variety of weaponry and equipment at every opportunity. Following are a sampling of the weapons favored by Ben and his Rebels.

WEAPONS

•
      
Thompson Submachine Gun
 
(“Chicago Piano” taken from sheriff’s office in Morrison, Louisiana, about ten miles from his Louisiana Delta home. The Thompson would become Ben’s right arm and his signature weapon.)

•
      
.45 semiautomatic pistol army-issue

•
      
.22 automatic rifles and handguns

•
      
.22 Caliber rifles and autoloading pistols

•
      
.22 Magnum revolver (9-shot)

•
      
.38 caliber Smith & Wesson Police Special

•
      
.410 shotgun

•
      
.44 Magnum pistol

•
      
.50 Caliber machine gun

•
      
.50 caliber and 7.62 machine guns

•
      
.50 caliber sniper rifles

•
      
.60 caliber machine gun

•
      
.7 mm bolt-action rifle and scope

•
      
.9 mm Browning automatic pistol

•
      
.9 mm Ingram submachine gun

•
      
5.56 Mini machine guns

•
      
7 mm Magnum

•
      
7.62 Caliber machine gun

•
      
9 mm submachine gun

•
      
12-gauge shotgun

•
      
Ak47 automatic rifle

•
      
BAR assault weapons

•
      
CAR 15 machine gun

•
      
Colt Woodsman automatic

•
      
Hughes M242 Bushmaster 25 mm chain gun

•
      
M-10 machine pistol

•
      
M-11s

•
      
M-14 assault rifle (Thunder Lizard)

•
      
M-15s

•
      
M16 automatic rifle

•
      
M-60 machine gun

•
      
M203 grenade launcher

•
      
Mini-14s

•
      
Remington 870 sawed-off shotgun

•
      
Remington model 1100 S.W.A.T. shotgun

•
      
Savage .270 shotgun

•
      
Twenty-round, drum-fed machine shotguns

•
      
Uzi machine guns

•
      
Weatherby 30.06 rifle

•
      
Winchester 30.06 repeating rifle

•
      
XM-21 rifles

ARMAMENT

•
      
Grenades (white phosphorous, frag, and smoke)

•
      
.40 mm high-explosive cartridges

•
      
Claymore C-4 antipersonnel/tank mines

•
      
C-4 detonators

•
      
Antipersonnel mines, high explosives, incendiary devices, and beehive rounds

•
      
Shillelagh missiles

•
      
81 mm mortars

•
      
LAW (Single-use antitank weapon with 66 mm rocket (replacement for the bazooka.)

•
      
gas grenades

•
      
66 mm rocket launcher

•
      
81 mm mortars; 81 mm mortar rounds

•
      
Bouncing Bettys

•
      
Foo-gas bombs

•
      
napalm

•
      
tear gas

•
      
poison gas

•
      
HEP (high-explosive plastic) and WP (aka Willie Peter) rounds

•
      
12.7 mm antiaircraft guns

•
      
90 mm cannon

•
      
105 mm cannon

•
      
antitank HEAT missiles

•
      
TOW/Dragon missiles and launchers

•
      
40 mm Bofors cannon

LAND VEHICLES

•
      
M60A1 tanks

•
      
M48A3 main battle tank

•
      
M60A2 tanks with 152 mm machine guns

•
      
M109A1 155 mm self-propelled howitzers

•
      
M-42 Dusters armed with 40 mm cannons and .50 caliber machine guns