“Your friends’re all dead. Their blood is already inviting all manner of creatures to this place. I don’t have to tell you what’s coming, because you’ve already imagined them, eh?”
The man remained in the bottom of the perforated boat, too afraid to respond. Water was beginning to seep in.
“Your boat’s disabled; it’s not going anywhere ‘cept straight down. There’s nowhere to run and no one to hear your cries for help. You’re surrounded by water on all sides. Even if you could make it to higher ground, every river bend and every third tree in the swamp looks exactly the same. But you’re too frightened to even consider making a run for it, so here you’ll stay.”
The man said nothing.
Clayton turned his boat back around and silently trolled away from the wreckage. After several a short while, he climbed back to his seat and prepared to continue onward. As he prepared to start the motor once again, a fearful voice cried out, “You’re not going to leave me here to die, are you?”
“You wouldn’t be so lucky. I’ve some business to attend to first, but I’ll be back. Then we’re going to talk and talk, almost like old friends – almost. I can’t wait to hear all about you and your friends. But until then, don’t go anywhere.”
Cha pter 17
Jake
Mississippi
Jake, Kate and Geram were having much better luck by the light of day. They had been driving since dawn’s first light and had only seen a handful of vehicles on the road. Parts were getting increasingly difficult to locate, so as vehicles started to break down, they were often simply abandoned.
Besides the difficulties associated with repairs, fuel had priced out of reach of all but the wealthy, or the scarce few that were still employed. The only people with jobs were the ones that worked for the government or critical infrastructure such as energy and utility companies. Even those workers had seen their salaries eroded away, but at least it still provided them a meager income. Some companies had forgone payment with currency altogether, and were compensating their employees with food and water.
The families along their chosen route were probably faring better than most, Jake assumed. They saw the occasional father and son tending to livestock, or a garden, or the numerous other activities associated with rural living that demanded daily attention. They even saw a tractor being used sparingly by an old farmer. The old man most likely had a large store of fuel on his farm that he was rationing as best he could.
The scenery had not changed much during the day. There were more forests now, but pastures and fields were still abundant enough. They had noticed several country stores at some of the more major intersections that appeared abandoned, but they had not dared to stop and investigate. The trials of the night before were still fresh on their minds.
The Bronco had been mostly silent for the last hour or so. The conversations of earlier had faded as each had turned to other preoccupations. Kate quietly read her Bible in the back as Sasha rested her head in Kate’s lap. Geram had relieved Jake of driving for a while so he could study the old Army Ranger Handbook that he had found in Frank’s vault. Jake was currently reading about combat patrols. Sasha lifted her head as Kate broke the silence and said, “Hey babe, listen to this:
‘The sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness; you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord , I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.’”
“Where is that from, Revelation?” Jake asked.
“Nope, it’s from the Old Testament.”
“Really? What’s the story behind it?”
“It’s pretty interesting,” she replied, “it’s from Habakkuk. He was a minor prophet in the Bible but this wasn’t a prophecy, it was part of a debate between him and God.”
“A debate?”
“Yeah, he starts off questioning God as to why He wouldn’t do something about all of the evil in Judah. God replied that He was going to send the Babylonians to conquer them. This left Habakkuk even more confused. He wondered why God would send a nation to destroy them that was even more corrupt than they were.”
“I can see the man’s point.” Geram interjected.
“I know, right?” Kate replied, “What I read was from the end of the book. He ultimately learned to trust God regardless of the circumstances. Even though everything was failing around him, God still had a purpose and a reason.”
Geram asked, “What was the purpose?”
“It doesn’t say,” she said, “but I think that’s the point. Habakkuk didn’t know the purpose, and we don’t either. It’s not for us to know.”
“Maybe the purpose was that Judah had run out of chances.”
“Maybe so.”
Suddenly, the radio-frequency scanner on the dash crackled to life. Jake grabbed it and turned up the volume.
“…is Checkpoint Two, we’re under assault! …taking heavy fire; may have to fall back! Send reinforcements immediately!” Gunfire was readily apparent in the background of the broadcast.
Kate said, “What was that?”
“Sounds like some locals’re under attack,” Jake replied, “We’re just a few miles outside of Decatur; it could be there.”
Geram began searching the channels on the CB radio for any other communications.
“What’re you doing?” Jake asked.
“We need to find that channel.” Geram scanned, but found nothing. “Must be on some other frequency,” he reasoned, “Hopefully they’ve got a CB too.”
“Wait,” Jake interjected, “is that safe? We could be getting in over our heads.”
The scanner chirped again. “Checkpoint Two, this is Town Hall. One is taking fire too. I’m sorry, you’re on your own. We’ve no one to spare. Hold out as long as you can.”
Geram turned to Jake and said, “That town is about to get overrun. There’re innocent people that’ll die if we don’t help; I know that for sure. I don’t know all the details, but I reckon we should help if we can.”
Jake glanced back at Kate. She nodded in agreement. Finally, he relented. “You’re right, let’s do what we can.”
Geram keyed up the CB. “Checkpoint Two this is a southbound civilian on Highway 15. State your location and we’ll aid you.”
He repeated the broadcast several times without any response. Each time, he would flip to the next channel and repeat himself. As he was about to change the channel again, a voice crackled through.
“Civilian on High way, 15 this is Town Hall, what’s your purpose?”