Chapter 11

“So, reports continue to come in of large numbers of heavily armed incels and many other sympathizers pouring into Washington, DC, presumably to join the insurrection and aid the ILA in holding or even adding to their territory. The vast majority of these rebels are male, white, and aged between twenty and forty-five years. In short, they resemble the traditional volunteer base associated with the United States military for most of its history.

“Indeed, many of these insurgents or terrorists actually have some kind of military experience, while others are admittedly much greener or only possess militia or police backgrounds. By all accounts, the sector controlled by the ILA appears to have expanded, at least a little, even as they have executed all but sixteen hostages. Yes, you heard that correctly. In the past few hours, most of the remaining hostages were reportedly executed by the terrorists holding certain sectors of the nation’s capital,” the anchorwoman, herself apparently living in the DC area, let her voice shake even as she dripped beads of sweat down her face.

“Two to one, that sweat’s not from the heat of the camera lights,” I remarked while chowing down on some veggie fajitas that I found at last.

‘She’s understandably terrified. The siege or battle of DC ain’t goin’ well for the Feds. Not so far. Sure, reinforcements from the DC National Guard are moving into place, but in the meantime, the rebels are swelling their own ranks due to social media. Furthermore, the more hostages they kill and territory they take, the weaker that the Feds prove to be. Imagine how scary that must be, both to locals and foreigners ... the United States Government under active assault by a revolutionary army of sorts,” Becca shivered, as did Taslima, as she contemplated the dangers.

“Fanatics like these don’t stop until someone stops them. They don’t do anything by halves. They play for keeps. I know this. Trust me on that point. They clearly intend to gain their own country, by hook or by crook. They want to build their model society, whether by secession or by simply ousting the central government and taking over America outright. Either way, they are very deadly people,” Taslima warned me as she huddled with me for warmth.

Well, it was autumn, after all. I somehow doubted that she was really cold. She was just afraid, very much so. She had cause to be. She had already been through one civil war, back in her native Syria. Now she was trapped in appeared to be the opening phase of another one. An insurgent militia of this type was hardly one to be lightly dismissed as no threat to the public safety. Not by a Middle Eastern refugee, no less.

“This reminds me a lot of the images that I saw from the ‘90s. The Serbs in Bosnia. Rough fellows, same kind of military or paramilitary past, same malevolence, same casual attitude about lethal force, about violence. Nothing wrong with veterans, of course. I respect their sacrifices a lot, especially know how they were just used by the politicians, didn’t want those wars.