BURNING NATION

"In the Second American Civil War, there are only three rules: Nobody goes alone. Never go unarmed. Always post a guard."

Burning Nation is the second installment to the Divided We Fall Trilogy.

Summary
The Idaho state government has nullified a federal law, mandating that all American citizens receive an Federal ID card that would allow Washington to track the cardholder’s every movement. Obviously, Idaho’s lack of compliance does not sit well with the federal government (nicknamed “the Fed”), which sends in the U.S. Army into the state to enforce the law. The Army sets up a blockade on all of Idaho’s borders in an attempt to starve the state into submission. Governor James Montaine calls forth the Idaho National Guard to combat the blockade, effectively pitting American soldiers against other American soldiers.

Plot
The story in the middle of a battle two months after the events of Divided We Fall (Book 1).

Danny and his friends, Sweeney and Cal, are fighting against the Feds across the Washington-Idaho border. They head for the bunker where inside, PFC Luchen fired his SAW, while Specialist Sparrow sent heavier rounds downrange with her 50-cal. Sergeant Kemp was helping them reload as they burned through their ammo belts. Luchen sees a MCLC (Mine Clearing Line Charge) on the other side of the border. It was then destroyed by an AT4 rocket. Suddenly, The Apache copter from The Idaho National Guard's side exploded as five M4B Schwarzkopf main battle tanks pushed through the woods from Washington. To make matters worse, Idaho's TOC went up in flames, a second MCLC moved into position, firing its rocket. Seconds later, its C4 rope exploded and Fed soldiers poured through the gap. Sergeant Kemp orders the troops to retreat while the little radio clipped to Kemp’s chest squawking,

“''All 476 elements, all 476 elements, this is 476 actual! Fall back! I say again, fall back! Evac truck charlie mike in five. 476 actual, out''.

The squad reached the road only to find their Army five-ton truck speeding away, its tarp in the back on fire. Soldiers inside used fire extinguishers, trying to put out flames that only flared up more in the wind. The truck sped off and disappeared around a bend. Danny uses his truck to help his squad fall back. Sergeant Ribbon was killed in battle, prompting Danny to avenge him as his collecst extra mags from Ribbon's body and closes his eyes. The squad decided to head for Silver Mountain, on the orders of Staff Sergeant Shane Donshel, the new squad leader. The planning was interrupted by gunfire, wounding Herbokowitz. Donshel and Specialist Smith are killed in the firefight. Luchen is wounded but stays standing. Danny gets everyone on the Beast, a Cherry-red 1991 Chevy Blazer, and drives toward Silver Mountain. Sparrow disregards Cal's idea of an ambush and suggest surrendering once they get to a hospital to treat their wounded. Luchen, however, argues and would rather die than give in to the Feds. Herbokowitz thinks the Feds will treat their wounded, but feared that they might be tried for treason, facing life in prison or worse. Danny, seeing that the Fed blockade had starved them for months, cutting off their food and gas supplies, came after his friends, and killed his mother, refuses to surrender as well. They all agree to go to Schmidty's secret bunker. As they drove to the secret bunker, A deep computerized voice spoke from Danny's radio repeating:

“''Attention Idaho residents. All Idaho military, militia, and law enforcement personnel must surrender to federal authorities immediately. All Idaho civilians must disarm, remain in their homes, and await instructions from federal authorities.Failure to comply will be met with deadly force. Continue to monitor this frequency for further information. This message will repeat.''"

But then, an Apache helicopter appears and tails on them. Kemp shoots it down with an AT-4. Wounded and exhausted, they raced on through the night toward Freedom Lake.

Danny meets up with JoBell and Becca, planning to hide them in the secret bunker. JoBell, however, refuses to follow him knowing that there would be no point on hiding with Danny with the fact that Idaho is beat. She then begs him not to take Becca, and that both of them would stick to moral grounds. Danny relentlessly agrees and leaves. Danny is forced to ditch his truck on a gorge after being chased by an Army Humvee.

Daniel and co. find a bunker under Schmidty's car repair shop, where they stay and try to take care of their wounded and figure out their next move. They sneak around the town stealing supplies and seeing who is on their side and who isn’t, and one of the soldiers, Spec. William Danning gets infected and dies despite their efforts to remove a bullet from him and clean his wounds. Under the enhanced measures of the Unity Act, President Laura Griffith has expanded her power and ordered a Federal occupation on Idaho. But President James Montaine is one step ahead after Idaho secedes from the union and declares the state independent from the United States. Setting up the state capital in the well-guarded north, he knows that southern Idaho is vulnerable, will be overrun and will have to deal with governmental repression. As food and other resources dwindle, President Montaine urges rebellion in southern Idaho and does what he can to assist the " Brotherhood", a special resistance group fighting for Idaho’s independence. As Idaho declares itself a republic, no longer a part of the United States, the president places harsh restrictions on the state and its citizens in order to bring the state to its knees. At first it looks as though the western state doesn't stand a chance in its revolt, but soon, other states such as Texas and Oklahoma follow Idaho's lead and other state legislatures express concern about the supremacy of federal over state's rights.

Meanwhile, while Danny and the others are scouting and staying out of sight, a friend of their, Todd Rourke, is questioned by a patrol from the Federal Idaho Reconstruction Authority led by Major Frederico Alsovar. Despite Rourke's pleas of unwarranted driving just so he can see his kids, Major Alsovar orders his right-hand man, Captain Peterson, to arrest Todd; When Peterson questions him, Alsovar orders Sergeant Dell to apprehend Rourke.

While in hiding, the Feds find where Danny in hiding in the shop leading Danny no choice but to open fire on the Fed officers and in the cross fire killing Herbokowitz. After the shoot out, Alsovar escapes the cross fire but before escaping shoots Schmidty. Schmidty tells the others to flee to his friend's cabin in the mountains refusing any help to stop his bleeding. Schmidty now moved to his chair gives his last request to Danny which is a gun so if the feds show up he will shoot them dead. The group leaves to the mountains leaving Schmidty to bleed out.

Eventually, after JoBell was shot and wounded at a protest for food rations, Danny and his friends decide to actually fight back against the Fed, which they do by setting fire to someone’s home and luring soldiers there so they can ambush them. The ensuing battle scene, complete with explosions and soldiers being burned alive, are described in grisly detail. One scene involves Calvin Riccon hacking people with a sword. While Daniel and several others talk later about how they feel bad about killing these soldiers, they all eventually chalk it up to “doing what they had to do,” for the sake of the newly minted Independent Republic of Idaho.

A group of federal soldiers led by Alsovar manage to find their hiding place and capture Daniel and Spec. Sparrow. They torture them for information, which is horrifying because it seems to be more out of Alsovar’s desire for revenge than out of actual need for the information. After several excruciating days of Daniel’s increasingly incoherent description of the torture with waterboarding, the Brotherhood received an anonymous tip from someone called Spartacus that Danny and Sparrow are being held at the Silver Sunset Resort. They stage an assault led by Sergeant Kemp to liberated the prisoners after quietly taking out the anti-aircraft machine guns on the top of the ski slopes. They kept the Feds at bay so that JoBell's boss, Lee Brooks can bring the seaplane. The Brotherhood then attack the main gate, but Brooks was worried that they would have a long-enough freeway inside the fence. Pvt. Luchen led a team to blow up the fence, but the team were quickly wiped out. Luchen, with no other option, sacrificed his life to blow the fence himself.

Later, there is a final encounter with Alsovar. He and Daniel fight one-on-one, Alsovar gets impaled on a metal rod, and Daniel takes a few moments deciding whether or not to kill him. Eventually he decides the “right” thing to do is to turn away and leave the man to die alone from the stab wound, but Cal, embittered with rage knowing that Alsovar brutally tortured his best friend, hacks him to pieces. He shows no remorse, and no one seems willing to say or do anything about it.

With this, Daniel’s town is free from the Fed for now, and when neighboring states send over food and supplies, the Brotherhood invites everyone into town for a “community picnic” to celebrate Idaho’s independence. Just as everyone is enjoying their hard-earned temporary peace, Becca’s parents, Tom and Kate Wells, show up and tearfully hug their daughter after months of being separated from the blockade As Daniel tries to welcome them, Kate slaps Daniel and berates him for bringing their little girl into the fight. This angers Becca and berates her own mother for not being in Idaho in the first place and that she joined the fight on her own free will. During the picnic, Nathan Crow orders six men to bring out three people who turn out to be traitors to the cause. Among them are Sally, the bartender who sold out Danny to the Feds in order to fed her child, Captain Peterson, who unwillingly assisted in Danny's torture, and an unknown specialist. It is then revealed that Captain Peterson was Spartacus, the anonymous tipster at Silver Sunset. Despite Daniel’s protests, along JoBell's father Brandon and Coach Shiratori, the Brotherhood nonetheless hangs them in front of everybody. As the traitors painfully choke to death, Crow salutes to his fellows brothers with his left fist in an angle. In the end, Danny ponders on what has happened: "We'd fought hard, risked everything, to win our freedom and start a new country. What kind of society was this?"