Glimmer of Hope (Land of Tomorrow Book 1)

Part III, Chapter 7

An old man in sweat-stained overalls galloped up to the McCracken County Municipal Building in Paducah on a lathered horse. He slid from the saddle before the horse had even stopped.

"They're coming!" he yelled as he hobbled up the stairs, "From the south, on the river, dozens of them, filled with soldiers!"

Some gathered on the steps to discuss what the now vanished man had been hollering about. He did look old enough to be senile. They smiled, shook their heads, and continued on with their business.

About five minutes later Mayor Leslie Mitchell fled the building taking one of the fueled up police vehicles with the lights and siren going as he sped off to who knew where.

Several men and women still stood in the mayor's office not sure what to do. The old messenger had been questioned by those in the room and then with his duty done had departed. The room was quiet and those in attendance kept unconsciously looking to the empty mayor's chair.

"Maybe he went to get help or something," said the mayor's secretary referring to her now fled boss.

"You heard what he said," answered the County Clerk. "The mayor isn't coming back, at least not when we need him."

"What about County Executive Williams?" asked a sheriff's deputy who happened to be in the building when the old man stormed in.

The Clerk shook his head, "He's out of town, won't be back in time."

"What are we supposed to do?" asked the secretary. "Who the hell is in charge now?"

Everyone looked at the clerk expectantly and he looked almost sick. "You won't like it," he said.

Confused looks stared back at him until understanding dawned in the deputy's eyes. Incredulous he said, "You can't be serious!"

"I'm afraid so," said the clerk. "That damn murdering gang leader is now in charge of everything. God help us."

"Best run while you can," said the deputy.

They did just that.

*******

Brazen quickly organized the regimental companies. He still couldn’t help but call them gangs in his own mind. They evacuated the people from the center of Paducah. Brazen figured that was where the WTR troops would land, so he sent the civilians to the outlying regions of Reidland, Heath, and Lone Oak. The gangs were brutally efficient as Brazen expected. He couldn’t be worrying about saving some individual while trying to fight an invader. Many went into the crowded stuffy buses against their wills.

Defending the entire city was out of the question. If the old man’s story was to be believed, there must be close to three hundred or more soldiers on the way and they probably had heavy machine guns, grenades, and mortars. Brazen’s regiment was taking in new recruits, but they were mostly untrained, and his forces chiefly consisted of the gangs. They were fanatical in their own way, but would never be able to stand up to such troops in the open, at least not yet.

His leaders argued for opposing the WTR landing at the river flood walls.

Brazen disagreed, "If they get resistance before they have landed their troops, they might simply move on downriver, could attack where the civilians are. The battle has to be in the city."

"Won't they just be able to do more damage there? Best to meet them straight on," said a state trooper, one of the few JP officials who had come to hear the plan and try to help instead of fleeing south and east.

Brazen grimaced at the trooper, "We have to believe these are WTR soldiers. Our men won't be able to stand up against them in normal battle, plus we'll likely be outgunned."