Prologue
July 2010
The humid air of the North Carolina summer heat weighed heavily on David Guffey as he exited the black Ford Super Duty. The lift kit would have made entering and exiting the truck a challenge, if not for the newly installed running boards. As David stepped around the bed of the truck, he and his brother shared a look of mutual anger and disappointment. The white ragged scar that ran from Ray's left temple to his jaw stark as he clenched his jaw.
At forty and forty-two respectively, the strain of the Proud Patriots was taking its toll. They had originally joined the group under the belief that they would right the many perceived wrongs of the U.S. government and usher in a version of America that they could be proud of again. What they had found instead were men who claimed to love America, while expressing hatred for most of the people living in it.
This wasn't what they had been told. The group they had been invited to join were forcibly impressing their views on the public through violence and mayhem. When first formed, the group was primarily made up of veterans and former police. In the last two weeks, it had become littered with white supremacists, clansmen and extremists. Being of indigenous descent, the brothers were uncomfortable with some of the rhetoric from the other members.
This is not what the brothers had in mind when they planned to do their part to make America strong again. Since being honorably discharged from the military two weeks prior the brothers had admittedly become cynical in their views. Distrustful of anything that was not for the America they wanted. That they had thought they had fought for twenty years of their lives. But this rabble of men they now followed seemed inclined to want to cause suffering for anyone that was not specifically white, straight, Christian and male.
The Guffey brothers had no love for people in those groups, but they also had little desire to harm people either. It simply was not who they were. Conflict with trained militants who seek to destroy democracy was one thing. They had done enough hurting during their military days.
For many years, they had been led to believe that Marxists and Socialists were taking over the country. That minorities, gays and other religions were corrupting American culture. But they were now less than impressed with the bullying, abuses, and aggression being shown to people who were exercising their first amendment rights to express themselves. These were not radicals seeking violence. These were normal folks insisting on living without discrimination and fear.
Going against the current administration was one thing, attacking defenseless people was another. As the brothers joined the group they could see that tensions were already high. Their worst fears were realized. These were kids. Mid-twenties at oldest. The furthest thing from militant radicals.
Shouts came from both sides of the line clearly drawn in the front of the college administration building. Campus police had put up saw horses and aluminum barricades to keep the two separated. Homemade signs and computer-generated posters were being shoved into the faces of the armed men before them. But this group did not seem deterred.
A young woman stepped forward with her sign. Her hard expression and angry tone left little doubt of her resolve. It seemed that the conflict was over a recent state measure that had been passed banning co-ed cohabitation. This was forcing students to move quarters, uprooting their lives and interrupting their education.
Shouts into a bullhorn further up the line could clearly be heard. "This is a God-fearing, Christian community and I will not sit by while our values are taken from us!" This would not end well.
The brothers had not been warned about what this was about, only told that it involved rioters intending to loot and burn the town if their demands were not met, a far cry from the scene before them. Usually, some sort of broadcast was sent out to prepare them. This was not their fight. David and Ray shared another look of disgust and turned to walk away. They had been lied to and that didn't sit well with them.
The young woman screamed at them as she followed after them. "Hey, you think you can just come here and force us to live by your beliefs? Fuck you! We have our own lives, our own goals, and our own beliefs!" They both turned to look at the dark haired, tanned young woman.
"I heard you." David calmly said, hoping to deescalate the irate girl by simply backing away. Seeing that David lacked interest in this fight, the girl soon redirected her focus on the man with the bullhorn thirty feet from where they stood. The congressman was better seen by David from there.
A slovenly pig sweating his ass off in an expensive suit. The six foot lanky man next to the pig was Derek Hammond. Leader of the group who had personally invited the brothers to join. At the bottom of the stage stood Troy Everburg. David and Ray recognized the young man from their small town in Virginia. Heir to the mill and logging companies that provided industry to the county.
The brothers turned as one to leave. Taking another fifteen steps in the direction of their exit. The shift was instantaneous. Shots from automatic rifles rang out as people screamed in terror.
"Jesus Christ." David swore.
They rushed forward to see what had tipped the scales and it was the young woman who had been in David's face. She had run toward the stage. That was all the trigger-happy bullies in the Proud Patriots had needed. These are just kids, you dumb sons of bitches, David thought as he reached the young woman's side. This was enough.
She coughed and clung to the sign that had a hole in it turning red under the white poster board. She had been hit in the diaphragm.
"The shot went clean. She is not going to make it." Ray informed him quietly.
Though Ray was a soft-spoken man, he was meaner than a bear before hibernation when provoked. David was the mouth. Ray was the brain. That is the way they had served as well. Blood pooled around the back of the fallen girl. Her last breath sighed out of her as they watched. She may have been a passionate hot head, but she did not deserve this.
David closed his eyes in a silent prayer for her soul. Ray softly said the one that had been taught to them by their mother. A Cheyenne chant for the fallen. Then rose to his feet. He turned his angry and disgusted gaze over the mayhem that was now in place of the protest. Bodies of young adults were everywhere. Some were just wounded and crying from pain. Others were dead on the spot from fatal injuries. The carnage made him sick. David looked at Ray sternly, "This is bullshit."
He approached Hammond. The grin of triumph and the look of bloodlust on the man's face made David want to knock him to his ass. But David only spoke. "We are done. My brother and me. This is not what we signed on for. Do not call on us again." His deep voice dark with anger and resentment to the leader. This was not the type of protest that required violence or even their presence. This was not their fight. It kept repeating itself in David's head. This wasn't what he had intended when he had joined the group.
"What's the matter, Guffey?" Hammond smugly asked. "They broke the rule."
"No, you did." David said his face now an inch from Hammond's. "This was not our fight. These kids did not deserve this. We are done." His fisted hands itched to pummel the leader to dust. It would be easy. At six foot six and almost three hundred pounds of sheer muscle David could easily overtake the lunatic.
Lunatic? Yeah, that was the word that had been floating in David's head. This was not the first time that such things had gotten out of hand, but it would be the last that the Guffey brothers were involved in. He spat at Hammond's feet and backed up.
"Never show your back or you could be lying down too." Hammond warned. The congressman standing next to Hammond put his hand on his shoulder and bent to whisper something in his ear. David backed until he reached his brother than pivoted on his heel and stalked to their truck.
David started the engine when both were seated in the massive truck. He glanced to his brother for confirmation.
"About time. Compound as we have been discussing?" Ray asked.
"Yes." David threw the vehicle in gear and eased out of the parking lot as police cars arrived. None detained them as they were more interested in assessing dangers and saving lives than in checking IDs and license plates.
There was a sense of finality as David took the exit that led north into Virginia and home. A home he hadn't seen much of in twenty years. The last had been the funeral of Jacqueline, their beloved mother two years ago.
For Ray, this was the new beginning he had been wanting all along. To go home, convince his wife of eighteen years to be his full wife. Move to Warm Springs and live out the rest of their lives in peace and love.
As their thoughts turned to the future, they also were still deeply disturbed by what had happened at the university. The first time they had thought it was just a one off. But this time, it was obvious the group was out to make trouble. Hammond being next to Congressman Buchanan, republican representative for the state of North Carolina proof to that fact.
Ray sat in contemplation of that. It wasn't the first time they had seen him or two other representatives with the same look and attitude. There was also some kind of businessman that was trying to make a name for himself in politics. Ray nor David particularly cared for that one. Riddled in scandals that went against their upbringing and codes. Not that the politicians were any better.
Two hours into the four hour drive Ray finally spoke. "We were wrong."
"So it appears." David glanced to Ray then returned his attention to the road. Ray didn't drive unless he had to. Too many accidents in military vehicles during his service. David didn't mind as he liked the control.
If he was honest with himself, he had wanted to join the group to avoid going home. Nothing would be as it was. Both their parents were gone. Those they had known as children would be busy with their own lives. Not to mention fitting back into the quiet life of a small town. If he and Ray didn't associate, they would be seen as pariahs. Alienating themselves. If they did, then it would be obvious how hard the men had become.
He let out his breath slowly and shifted in his seat. He knew his brother's plan to move his wife back to Warm Springs. Into the family home that was by rights his since he was eldest. He also knew that Ray would want him to stay in the house with them. That didn't fit. It wasn't that he didn't like Roxy. He loved the woman. In a brotherly way of course. But to be surrounded by the loving couple with nothing of his own would slowly drive him insane. He would be a third wheel and he wasn't comfortable with that.
Loneliness would be his only friend when Roxy moved from Monterey. He had just left a twenty year marriage to the military. His thoughts slipped to a blonde haired woman with brown doe eyes.
Amy.
The one thing in this world he couldn't have. Shouldn't want. Yet even as her face filled his mind's eye, his heart sped up. His lungs forgot how to work. That smile, that body, that spirit. She was the reason he never dated in the military. Never sought to make anything more out of one-night-stands.
He loved her and had kept her at a distance all this time. Not wanting her to suffer if he didn't make it home. But as the years have passed, she hadn't married as he expected. Never fulfilled that dream every girl has.
He often asked himself why. He never asked his brother. Afraid of the answer. Afraid that what he suspected would be true and that would put her right in his path.
He shifted in his seat while shifting his thoughts. Focusing on the road ahead. Telling himself that it was wrong. She was raised as their sister. She didn't love him like that.
