American Nightmare

She still didn't know how it happened. She wasn't alone in her ignorance. America had gone to bed in relative freedom, only to awaken in a nightmare. She had studied Nazi German in history class and had always wondered how an entire country could go insane at the same time. Now she knew. She saw the debates consisting of a bunch of men standing on stage comparing hand size instead of issues and culminated in electing to the highest office in the land an aspiring dictator who had done his best to tear the country apart.

Under his questionable leadership the Levitcans arose. Once considered a laughable fringe group, they claimed to be sanctioned by God and the self-proclaimed Chosen One to remake America into a Christian nation. In their twisted logic, they were the only people worthy of Constitutional protection. Free speech was fine, until you disagreed with them. Freedom of religion was awesome, if it was their religion, and there was no such thing as freedom from religion. They espoused a doctrine of Old Testament patriarchy and an abbreviated Constitution with two amendments led by their new Lord and Savior.

When he packed the Supreme Court with sycophants, she began worry. When his followers attempted to interfere with the election, worry turned to fear. Her husband told her there was nothing to worry about. After all, America was filled with good people on both sides.

She wished she could have believed him.

Then came January 6th and the world changed. The Leviticans stormed the Capitol to prevent the certification of the presidential election, urged on by the biggest loser in American history. They failed in their attempt, but the departing president left behind courts packed with his loyal followers and land mines he had executive ordered into existence. Like IEDs in the desert, the explosions were triggered, one by one.

It began in Texas with the most Draconian anti-abortion laws ever conceived. The state government encouraged people to turn on their neighbors and family members should the word abortion even be uttered. For this information, they would receive a payment of $10,000, good money for people with no scruples and misogynistic tendencies. No woman of childbearing years was safe unless she was visibly pregnant. It didn’t matter if the woman had miscarried, or if she had never been pregnant. A slight weight gain with no baby appearing at the allotted time would mean a call from a nosy neighbor.

She would always remember the day the Supreme Court made its decision. It was the beginning of the end of freedom for women.

That was all the evangelicals needed. They used the Court's decision as a lever to overturn every anti-discrimination law on the books. The goal was to return the country back to the good old days of family values.

Every time she heard that phrase, she wanted to vomit.

The Leviticans soon got what they wanted when their leader, a man known for embracing wild conspiracies and a firm believer in a badly translated book, was elected four years later due to a combination of disenfranchising voters and outright violent voter suppression. With that, they soon had what they wanted; the power to remake the country into a militant patriarchy. Education for women was being severely curtailed. At first, it was just at the university level. Then it was secondary education. There was no need to educate a woman beyond grade school. After all, you don't need a high school diploma for the few jobs that were still available to women. Cooks, maids, child care workers, and a few teaching positions were all that was allowed. Women could no longer enter libraries without a male companion to censor what they were reading, not that it mattered. The book burning that followed the election decimated women's literature.

Women were systematically removed from the professions. She found it ironic that some of the first women affected by this were federal judges appointed by the former president. Doctors, nurses, university professors, engineers, lawyers, and computer experts were sent home with orders to stay there. Women in the armed forces were summarily discharged and sent back to their husbands and fathers. Women were no longer allowed to own property, have a bank account or credit cards. At first it was just a mild annoyance that turned into rage when she found the pension she'd earned serving in the military was to be deposited directly into her husband's bank account. It hadn't helped when he'd laughed at her frustration. After all they'd had a joint account for years. If she needed money, all she had to do was ask and he'd get it for her. She hated like hell having to ask for her own money.

She thought women had it bad; until the new laws against homosexuality were announced. Same-sex marriages were voided, and the information gleaned from the marriage certificates was used to hunt people down. Members of the LGBTQ+ community were arrested, tried, and sent to sentenced to be tortured in conversion camps. Many died during the process. Others simply opted out by any means necessary.

When she was younger she had been a soldier. She had fought against a group of extremists with the same ideas, rescuing women and children from an existence that was virtual slavery. She had watched in horror and disbelief as her own country embraced the political rhetoric of 'we're doing this for your own good' and used religion to justify their actions. It may have had a different name, but the practice was the same. Women were no longer considered human beings, but property.

All forms of birth control were outlawed, and if any woman were desperate enough to seek an illegal abortion, she would be jailed until after the child was delivered, and then executed. Women were to be veiled at all times, lest they tempt a man into sin. Women were banned from computer access or the use of libraries. A woman’s undivided attention should be focused on god, her husband, and her children. In that order.

She would have found the whole concept laughable, only no one was joking, and women were dying. Dying from botched abortions, dying from lack of medical care, and dying from being forced to continue a pregnancy that was killing them and the fetus they were carrying. Dying from neglect, from suicide, from the simple act of speaking out against a male dominated world. For wanting to be heard. For wanting to learn.

Women were living in fear. Their bodies were not their own. It belonged to any man who wanted it. Saying no to sexual advances could mean death. Honor killings were made legal. Women could be executed by any male family member accusing her of sinful behavior with no repercussions. Legalized murder sanctioned by god, she thought. What better way to get rid of a mouthy woman or unwanted daughters?

There were now roving Enforcement Squads. The squads were empowered to act as police, judge, and executioner with no oversight. She considered them a bunch of bullies and thugs. If women were caught outside without a veil, if they were too loud in public, or who were caught reading, writing, or anywhere near a computer, they were subject to immediate punishment, by caning, imprisonment, or immediate execution by a bullet to the back of the head with no opportunity for reprieve.

And then came the death blow.

Driving was forbidden. Women were to turn in their driver’s licenses and passports. There would be no fleeing to another county. She refused. Her husband pleaded with her to do so. They have a list, he said. If you don't turn in your license, they’ll find out sooner or later. Turn in your license and passport and save a whole lot of trouble.

Save who a whole lot of trouble? She’d asked. Me or you?

He hadn't been able to answer the question.

And now he never would. He was dead, shot by an unknown assassin. She had a good idea who'd done it, just no proof, and even if she'd had proof, no one would have listened to her anyway. After all, she was just a woman, and all women were liars by nature.

She'd buried her husband and the next day her brothers had turned up with papers from the local court explaining how they were now the owners of her house and land. She would continue as an unpaid servant until a suitable husband could be found for her. Widows, especially relatively young ones, were too dangerous to be left unsupervised.

They were laughing when they left. She was angry because she didn't have a weapon within reach.

Now she sat on a bale of hay in the barn, surrounded by her goats, her dog sitting at her feet, watching. She had given each of the goats a treat, and an injection. She was almost done. The goats were settling down and would soon be sleeping endlessly.

Her dog was next. Owning dogs had been outlawed years earlier. She didn't care. She'd had her dog from when it was a pup and she refused to give her up. Her husband had tolerated the dog. Her brothers wouldn’t. She didn't even want to think about what they would do to her beloved companion. She gave the dog a treat and an injection and held her until she stopped breathing.

She was ready. She had been preparing for this day since the Leviticans swarmed the Capitol. She took the lid off the can and began pouring high test onto the hay, soaking the pile. She walked through the barn, linking piles of hay with a trail of gasoline, both downstairs and upstairs in the hayloft.

When she was done, she went over to her dog, and bending, kissed her on her graying muzzle. “You were the best dog, ever,” she said. “And the best goats and I am not letting those horrible humans get near you.”

She went back to her house, moving quickly before she lost her nerve. In the center of each room was a pile of hay. She soaked the piles with gasoline and continued pouring a gasoline trail, linking the piles of hay together. She emptied the can onto a huge pile of hay in the middle of the living room. She took the box of matches from her pocket, lit one, and threw it into the pile. It went up with a satisfying “whump”.

She had to hurry before the neighbors saw the smoke and called the fire department. She sprinted to the barn and threw in a match. Another satisfying “whump.” She ripped the veil from her hair and threw it into the flames. She unzipped the coveralls. Underneath she was wearing her Army dress uniform. She'd pinned all her medals and ribbons to the jacket, along with her rank insignia. She put on her beret and got into the car she hadn't driven in over a year. Her husband had kept up the maintenance and it started on the first try.

If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this right, she thought as she got into the car. She tucked a backpack under the dashboard on the passenger side and placed her rifle in the seat, along with six, fifty-round magazines and a pair of hand grenades. She doubted she’d get the opportunity to reload, but that didn’t matter.

She knew she wouldn’t survive what she had planned, but someone had to stand up to the tyrants and tell them no more. Behind her, the smoke and flame from the barn were getting thick. She hit the button that dropped the top, shifted into second gear, and drove through the gates.

She didn’t look back.

*********************

She drove slowly through the center of town. It was a beautiful day. She was enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin and the breeze blowing through her hair. There wasn’t much traffic and very few people were on the streets. Women were no longer allowed to shop without a male relative to keep them out of trouble. She saw a few veiled women being escorted by their sons. Many of the women in her age group had simply given up and seldom left their homes. Or at least that was what their husbands were saying. She knew of three who had protested their lack of freedom the only way they could. They were buried in unmarked graves in the section of the cemetery reserved for suicides.

She turned at the next traffic light and cruised past City Hall and the Police station with the top down, the CD player blasting “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC, casually tossing a very illegal hand grenade into the open door of the police station as she drove past and rolling one under the mayor’s car just for the hell of it. She would have given a million dollars to have seen the look on those fat, self-righteous creeps' faces when they realized they’d just been fragged. She made do with the roar of the explosions.

There was a major intersection two blocks away. She parked in the middle, slung her rifle over her shoulder, and climbed onto the hood of her car. The rifle was an M-4 carbine. She’d paid a lot of money to have it modified for automatic firing. She inserted a magazine, pulled back the charging handle, and let it fly forward, chambering a round of extremely illegal Teflon coated cross tip 5.52 non-NATO approved ammo. The digital timer inside the backpack under the dashboard on the passenger side of the vehicle was rapidly counting down to zero. She heard the sirens of the approaching squad cars. She knew they would give no quarter. The second she’d put her key into the ignition and started her car she became an enemy of the state. She shouldered her rifle and opened fire.

She killed thirteen before they brought her down.

The little convertible was riddled with bullet holes, the windshield shattered, and the tires flattened. A crowd of men gathered around the little car to survey the damage as she lay bleeding in a crumpled heap on the hood. Too bad about the car, the officer in charge said, that was a sweet little ride. Maybe with a little body work……..

The clock turned over to the last zero.

She had packed the car with as much C-4 and Tannerite as she could find and had filled the trunk with ammonium nitrate and farm diesel, to which she had added a hundred pounds of roofing tacks.

It was a beautiful explosion.