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Tuesday, February 11, 2025 - 09:16 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA FOR 30+ YRS

First Published & Printed in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA FOR OVER 30 YEARS!

James Patterson’s Journal — The Story of The Congregation of Andria Church During the Dark Time (Patterson’s Tale #9)

Story of The Congregation of Andria Church During the Dark Time
Persecution of people of faith continues unabated!

(Note:  Parts #1 to #16 of “Civilization’s Interregnum” can be read by logging on to <timesexaminer.com>, and then clicking on my name on our Home Page, under “Local Columnists”.  Scroll down the lists to Part #1, published on Aug. 5, 2023, or to whatever part you want to access, to read the entire series to date).

“Word soon spread up and down the river that Andria village had actually attacked an Enforcer installation and had killed all 98 of the enemy in it.  We all knew that this bold action would put Andria on the Overmasters’ short ‘kill list’, for they were well known for the retribution they always practiced on individuals, clans, or in this case an entire village—who dared to defy them.  Two days later the Lees met with the entire village, men, women, older teens, to discuss our possibilities and course of action.  Some families were so terrified of Enforcer revenge that they loaded what they could on their horse carts and left Andria quickly.  A few families decided to retreat deep into the forest in hopes of hiding from the Enforcers for an extended time.  But most of us, numbering about 700 people, decided by open vote to stay and fight our enemies, even though we knew there was little chance that we could continue to resist them for long.

THE ANDRIA VILLAGERS INTENSIFY THEIR RESISTANCE

“We began to rebuild the burned out area of Andria and make it into our own fortification.  We cut down big trees and made high walls, covering their fronts with rocks to make them harder to burn or knock down.  Others went to nearby villages to try to buy or trade for ammunition for our firearms.  After three weeks of trying to overcome the fear that our neighboring villages had of helping us in any way, we found a clan who specialized in trade with the enemy, or in many cases, outright stealing from the Enforcers or the Overmasters’ storage warehouses.  For a huge price of 50 silver coins, 10 bulls, 25 heifers, and 10 horses they agreed to provide us with 2000 rounds each of the two firearm calibers we used in Andria.  They also provided us with something we had never seen or used before---50 sticks of what they called ‘dynablast’, assuring us that just one stick could explode with enough force to kill 10 or 15 Enforcers if used the right way.  For another 10 horses (which was just about all we had left in Andria), they showed our agents how to  use the dynablast, how to detonate it, and how to bury it under roads and walkways and walls, with wires leading to it which were attached to a detonator switch.

“Several days later the agreed price had been paid—all of the old silver coins we had in Andria went for this final defense, and we had moved the animals to the village (I’ll not name it) in which lived our suppliers.  As our people left, these friends warned us that the Enforcers were concentrating on attacking other villages closer to the Great Atlantic Ocean, but their spies had heard several Enforcer leaders brag about how they would soon begin to built a great stone fortification near Andria, and that they would be back to teach our village a “lesson” about what happens to people who dare to defy the will of the Great Council, and our Overmasters who served them.

“For the remainder of the year A.D. 2409, we weren’t much bothered by our enemies.  We had six ambush teams, consisting of one rifle man and five archers each, who patrolled deep in the forest around our village.’  In the Fall time of that year, two of our patrols ambushed small Enforcer patrols who were poking around the outer boundaries of Andria.  These Enforcers had managed to surprise attack and kill three of our families who had previously fled our village out of fear.  That probably gave them more confidence that we were unprepared than was really the case.  Both of those enemy patrols were ambushed in the forest by our men, and all ten of the Enforcers in them were killed, although we had to pursue two of them for a time as they tried to escape from us.

ANDRIA VILLAGE IS PARTLY FORTIFIED IN PREPARATION OF EXPECTED RETRIBUTION ATTACKS BY THE ENFORCERS.  THE COUNCIL’S NEW MILITARY FORCE THREATENS.

“That year of 2409 was probably the best year the people of Andria village had, for most of the people had agreed to live together despite their different beliefs.  We had learned the lesson that there was more strength in cooperating with each other in the face of common enemies, than continuing to battle each other while our mutual enemies gradually killed us.  By the end of the year we had completed our fortification in the area of the village that had been burned during the previous attack.  Ominously, it was also the year that our enemies had actually begun to build their huge new stone fortification a little farther downriver from Andria.  They also began to cut down a large area of the forest near their new installation.  We began to hear rumors that the Overmasters were going to build a large base there that would be used by the new Council Military Force we had already learned about.  This was to be a real military force with strong weaponry and even some helorotors, which no one in Andria, except for the Lees, had ever seen.  We all considered this to be an ominous sign indeed.

THE FINAL YEAR OF ANDRIA VILLAGE BEGINS AS THE TEMPORARY PEACE ENDS

“Two months into the new year of A.D. 2410 went by without any further harassments from the Enforcers.  We had already decided to meet for Sabbath services only during the dark of evening.  Our Jesus Sect group grew to about 50 adults, plus some young children and teens.  It was a very loving group who seemed really dedicated to serving our Savior.  Pastor Lee constantly cautioned us about getting overly confident that our enemies had forgotten about us. Edrood and his militia constantly spied on the Enforcers who were building their large stone installation.  We were told that the Overmasters were using prison labor to build their military base.  I went on one of the patrols with Edrood and saw with my own eyes some of the pathetic men and women who were being forced to do this heavy construction work.  They were little more than skin and bones, and I saw their guards beating them with canes.  They also used some long baton-like stick that I saw them place on the body of a woman and a man.  Suddenly these people screamed in pain and fell to the ground, pleading with the guards to not do it again.  Edrood later told me that they were something new that the Enforcers had begun to use, called “shock-sticks”.  This was the first time I had ever seen them used, and I dreaded ever having one used on me.

THE ENFORCERS ATTACK IN VENGEANCE, USING RARE FYING MACHINES TO ATTACK ANDRIA’S FORTIFICATIONS

“Our time of peace came to an end one beautiful Sabbath morning in Spring Late of 2410.  I was sitting with Leah at our eating table, reading passages from pages we had copied from her father’s old Bible when it had been our turn to hide it.  Leah had just finished reading several chapters from the Book of Romans when we heard some loud explosions coming from the middle of the village.  We ran outside and saw two strange air machines flying over the fortified center of the village, part of which was already on fire.  We saw each of these machines, which Pastor Lee later told us were called ‘helorotors’, drop large black objects from their bellies.  These objects exploded in the middle of our fortified rebuilt village, destroying a large area around where they hit.  These helorotors circled around and we saw them dropping two more of the black objects onto our Andria fortification, and those bombs they dropped blew large holes in our stone walls.  Then both of these flying machines flew low over our village and started shooting large caliber bullets at all of our houses, killing some of our people and many of our farm animals and our dogs.  They then left us with our village burning and our people desperately trying to hide from the wrath of the Enforcers.

“I told Leah to stay in our house, but I ran down toward the center of the village.  By the time I arrived, Edrood was there with many of his militia men.  He organized other village leaders and together we all put out the fires, but not until after several houses had been burned down.  It was obvious to all of us that our village had suffered much damage, and I saw some of our people crying and screaming, asking God why He had allowed this to happen to us.  Pastor Lee soon arrived with many of his militia men, and in a few hours order had been restored in our village, and our people’s fears calmed.

THE LEES AND THEIR MILITIAS LAUNCH THEIR RESISTANCE AGAINST THE ENFORCERS

“The Lees met with the village leaders, including me, later that evening.  We met at our Old White Church building.  Both Rachard and Edrood were carrying rifles strapped to their backs.  Our pastor declared right away that we must meet violence with violence, for that was the only thing that our enemies understood.  He proposed a plan to use some of our sticks of ‘dynablast’ to destroy the stone fortification that the Enforcers were building outside of our village.  He explained that if we could bury enough of them under the walls of that installation then we would be able to destroy it.  We all voted in favor of that plan, knowing that it would only further infuriate our enemies.  By this time, I must tell you, we all knew that we were dead men, and we realized that this might be the last opportunity we would have to strike a blow for freedom. We sent several spies to watch our Enforcer enemies as they built their huge stone building.  They were now using construction workers rather than only prisoners, so we noted their work habits for many days.  The Enforcers took two days off in the middle of each week when no construction went on.  Pastor Lee ordered that the next ‘off days’ of our enemies would be the time we  struck our blow.  When the time finally came, Edrood positioned his men near the entrance of their new station.  When the only two Enforcer guards came out, they were killed with one bullet each.  We had to work fast, for we knew that our enemies might have a schedule that required them to communicate with their radio transmitters to their headquarters regularly.  Failure to do so could result in an Enforcer patrol being sent to investigate. 

“Our men had learned how to install the igniter caps on the sticks of ‘dynablast’ and wire them together with thin electric wire.  While others stood guard, a team of 20 militia men buried 20 sticks of dynablast under the new stone walls and another 10 in both of the large, but uncompleted, buildings inside the walls.  It took our people almost four hours, and dawn was approaching as they finished.  We buried the dead Enforcers in the forest, and we also buried our lead electro-wire under some soil and leaves.  Edrood himself attached the wires to the igniter box that had been part of the purchase price for our weaponry.

“We hid in the forest near the building for several hours.  Finally we heard two enemy trucks approaching slowly over the dirt road that led into the village.  They stopped at the entrance to their uncompleted fortress, and 20 of them emerged, their auto rifles pointed toward the forest.  They opened the gates and began to search through the buildings inside.  They were so confident in their ability to intimidate us that they did not even leave guards by their trucks.  As soon as all 20 of them went in, several of our men closed the gates, and we pushed one of the trucks up against the gates, which opened outward.  Edrood’s men ignited both of these trucks with fire oil, then ran far from the walls.  Pastor Lee gave the signal as we heard the Enforcers pounding on the gates, trying to escape.  Edrood activated the igniter, and suddenly a violent explosion rocked the entire area, knocking many of us down.  A large ball of flame and smoke with pieces of wall and buildings rose far up into the sky, and the sound caused our ears to ring for a time.

“After the flames and smoke subsided, and the trucks had been totally burned, many of us walked through the demolished walls and into our enemies’ destroyed fortress.  We saw may bodies of dead Enforcers, but we recovered only 11 of them.  The rest had been blown into pieces by our attack.  We piled them into the center of their area and burned their bodies.  Thus we delivered the strongest blow we could for our dignity as God’s people—one of our final defiant strikes at the very concept that any government can do as it pleases to deprive the people of the liberty that we knew our God had proclaimed for His children.  Many of the people of Andria came and looked at the ruins that our oppressors had planned to use against us.  We knew that they would surely construct it again, probably after they had killed or imprisoned all of us.  It was our determined proclamation to these evil ones that while they could destroy us, they could not destroy the spirit of freedom that lives in very good person’s chest.  That they will never take away.

NEXT TIME:  The Andria Resistors begin to prepare for their final battle with the Enforcer Army by constructing traps and defense positions around the village.  Many Andrians question whether they should make a last stand, and one of them finds as answer to their prayers to God buried in the ground near the village.  Pastor Lee asks each Andrian to examine him or herself and decide whether he/she would resist or flee.  Ultimately the entire village decides to make their final stand with their pastor, and not ever submit to their evil enemies.  Thus the last days of Andria village begin to take shape as the new military force of the Supreme Council begins its final attack against Andria.

 

WHLambBioMug2

A native of Cleveland, Ohio W. H. (Bill) Lamb was graduated from Cleveland State University (Ohio) in 1960, and relocated to South Carolina in 1964.  For many years he was an Industrial Engineer, Chief Industrial Engineer, and plant manager in the steel, electronics, and apparel industries in Ohio, South Carolina, and Alabama. 

An avid and long time writer concentrating on political and cultural issues of concern to America’s Christian Patriot community, he was published in the Lancaster, S.C. “News” during the mid-to-late 1960’s and in Greenville’s “The Times Examiner” since 1999.   The late Christian Patriot, Col. Bobby Dill, was his first editor for The Times Examiner, the publication he always refers to as “a great journal of truth”.

Married to Barbara for 65 years, he has two adult kids, five grandkids, and six great grandkids, plus a “feisty and opinionated” 80 lb. Pit Lab named Hayley, who runs the entire house.

A long time member, with Barbara, of the patriotic John Birch Society, he believes that it is the duty of ALL Christians to first, share the love of his Savior, Jesus, with others, and then to be dedicated patriots and do everything possible to both resist the evil of collectivism that is smothering Western Civilization and educate and motivate his fellow Americans in the preservation of our unique Constitutional Republic.