The Days of Elijah, Book Two: Wormwood: A Novel of the Great Tribulation in America

by Mark Goodwin

  One of the men noticed Everett from a distance. “Hey, you!”

  Everett waved at the man and shook his head. “Gotta run.” He changed to a brisk sprint to get out of the area before the men got closer to him. He said to himself, “With my weapon and tactical gear, I look more like a GR peacekeeper than a rioter. It’s too early in the day for a friendly fire incident.” Everett made sure the men weren’t pursuing him before he cut around the lake to the ORP.

  Everett knocked on the fire doors.

  Kevin pushed them open from the inside. “Where’s Tommy and the rest of the guys?”

  Everett relayed the new plan.

  Kevin grimaced. “I guess I was expecting too much if I thought Tommy was actually turning over full tactical command to me.”

  “He said the guys he dropped off earlier were taking orders straight from you.”

  Kevin walked back to the office where the map was located. “That’s great, but now we’ve got people running around all over the place doing whatever the heck they want. You can’t run an operation like that. That’s how people get killed.”

  Everett shrugged. “It’s not the best-case scenario, but I’m convinced Tommy will be able to create a much more effective riot than would happen by itself. When I was at the CIA, anytime the Company went overseas to intentionally destabilize a government, guys like Tommy were always the ones they were looking for. From an intelligence standpoint, he’s doing exactly what we want him to be doing. It’s messy, but it’s a proven strategy.”

  Kevin looked over the map. “Benny, the guy you called Spindle, he told us about some of that stuff. I’m sure it’s effective, it’s just when decisions are being made, I can’t adjust my course of action if I’m not in the loop.”

  “I understand. But Tommy is a loose cannon. We knew that coming into this thing. He’s not going to conform to our methodology.”

  Kevin sighed. “I know. But I wish Tommy hadn’t put me in charge of anything. When I’m calling the shots, I feel like I’m responsible for every man’s life. Loose cannons cause casualties on both sides. It’s a variable I’m not used to working with.”

  Sarah and Courtney walked in. “What’s happening?” Courtney asked.

  “People are already gathering in the streets. It was a good idea.” Everett put his hand on her arm.

  “Thanks.” She looked at the map. “When do we start to move?”

  Kevin looked up at Sarah. “I’m going to take command of most of the fourteen guys Tommy dropped off. We’ll be the initial assault team. Sarah, you’ll be the tactical coordinator for a five-man team. I’ll give you two of Tommy’s men plus Everett, Courtney, and yourself. Everett, do you have a problem with that?”

  Everett shook his head. “She has more experience.”

  “Good. You guys are going to take up a position inside the library. The three of you watch that second-floor window where we were earlier. Put the two men from Tommy’s team downstairs by the window we came in through. You don’t want any rioters or peacekeepers sneaking up on you. I’ll cue Tommy with minus fifteen. Sarah, count it down, then all of you start taking any shot you have.

  “I’ll be taking a smaller team inside the fence to sabotage the vehicles once the peacekeepers start taking fire. The parking lot is in your field of fire from the library, so be conscious of what’s behind your target when you shoot.

  “Once the fireworks start, we can use the radios for minimal coordination. They’ll have already figured that they’re under a formal attack by that point. So it won’t matter as much if they pick up our comms over a scanner. Just don’t give away any info over the radios that you don’t absolutely have to.

  “Any questions?”

  “I don’t like splitting up our team. We’ve trained together; we know how to work together. Not having you as coordinator puts everybody at risk.” Sarah was obviously in a huff. “Especially you.”

  Kevin furrowed his brow. “Someone has to lead the primary strike team, Sarah. And we can’t have seventeen people on a squad. We have to break it up.”

  “I don’t want to lose you again.” Sarah was a warrior, but she was also a wife.

  Kevin hugged her. “You won’t. I promise.”

  She put her hand on his cheek. “You can’t promise. I know you’ll try your best, but you can’t promise that.”

  “I’ll assign two men to your team. Then you guys need to get into position.” Kevin kissed her forehead and walked out of the room.

  Moments later two men who had been dropped off by Tommy walked in.

  “I’m Bennett.” A young man, late twenties, extended his hand to Everett. He wore camouflage cargo pants and carried an AR-15.

  The other man was in his late thirties. He also had an AR-15 slung over his shoulder. “I’m Silas.”

  Everett figured Kevin had purposely assigned men with compatible weapons and ammo. He shook the two men’s hands. “I’m Everett. Nice to meet you. But to be clear, Sarah is running this operation. She might look like a runway model, but trust me, she saw her share of action in the desert and in the resistance prior to the disappearances.”

  Sarah blushed as a smile came over her face. “Stop it, Everett. Bennett, Silas, nice to meet you. If you have any ideas, I’m happy to hear them, but if I give an order, it has to be followed immediately and without question. Otherwise, the whole dynamic breaks down and our risk of dying goes up exponentially. If you can’t handle that, tell me now. You can go work with Tommy. No hard feelings, at least not on my part. Do you understand?”

  Silas nodded.” I understand. You won’t have any problems out of me. I’m here to win this thing and get these sons of bucks out of my town.”

  Bennett shook Sarah’s hand. “Same here, Ma’am.”

  “Good. Have either of you served in law enforcement or military?” Sarah asked.

  “Tommy never had many friends in law enforcement.” Silas smiled. “Maybe a couple, but they had to be careful hanging around the rest of us. And no ma’am, I didn’t have the honor of serving.”

  “Me neither, ma’am,” Bennett said. “But we both hunt. Squirrel, rabbit, turkey, deer.”

  “That helps.” Sarah quickly went over basic hand signals with the two men.

  “Sounds logical. I’ll remember that.” Silas tucked his thumb in the sling of his rifle.

  “Are you guys any good with the AR-15s?” She inquired.

  “Oh yeah. We can shoot,” Bennett replied.

  Sarah looked the two men over. Both had quad-stack magazine holders on their belts. “You both have five magazines, including the ones in your rifles?”

  “Couple extras besides these.” Bennett patted the left side pocket of his cargo pants.

  Silas said, “I have eight magazines total.”

  “Okay, conserve ammo. Don’t shoot unless you think you can hit someone or if one of your teammates is calling for cover fire. This could be a long fight. Let’s move out.”

  CHAPTER 7

  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

  Isaiah 40:6-8

  The rain had paused and Everett was right behind Sarah as they moved toward the library. With Bennett and Silas trailing the rest of the team, the group looked more like militia and less like Global Republic peacekeepers. This was a good thing as they encountered three more groups of people heading toward the compound. One of the groups was only five people, but they had shotguns and were pushing a grocery cart filled with glass bottles which had bits of rag hanging out the top of each one. Everett waved at the man pushing the cart as a sign that they were on the same team and shared a common objective. “Molotov cocktails.”

  A pickup truck drove down Lowery Drive, passing by the team. Six men were in the bed of t
he truck whooping and hollering as if they were drunk.

  Courtney was directly behind Everett. She turned to Silas. “Those guys look like they might be Lloyd’s customers. Do you recognize any of them?”

  Silas wrinkled his forehead. “No.”

  Everett watched as they drove past. “They’ll probably be the first to get shot when the GR’s patience runs out.”

  Sarah shook her head. “This is a volatile situation. I don’t like it.”

  The team reached the library and quickly went inside. Sarah looked around. “Bennett, Silas, try to find some cabinets or something to stack up against this window. We want to make it look less accessible to passersby. And at the same time, make sure we can get back out in a hurry if need be. All the exits are locked. Even the fire doors are chained shut. I guess GR fire codes are a little more lax than the old governments. No one gets in here, even if that means shooting. This is our house for now.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Silas began looking around for furniture to use for a barricade.

  Sarah motioned for Everett and Courtney to follow her to the stairwell. “Let’s see if we can get to the third floor. The roof has probably caved in, but we’d have a much better vantage point.”

  Everett took the lead up the stairs. He pushed against the door. “It’s blocked by debris. Should we try another stairwell?”

  “Yeah, let’s give it a shot.” Sarah walked back down to the second floor where they cut through to the opposite side of the building.

  Everett carefully traversed the stairs which were littered with scorched roofing material. He pushed the door open. Debris from the collapsed roof was all around, but he managed to get through the door.

  Sarah came in behind him. “What a mess.”

  Everett looked at Courtney as she walked through. “Be careful up here. Lots of hazards are mixed in the rubble.”

  Sarah pushed against a beam which was blocking the window overlooking the GR compound. “Protestors are gathering around the GR perimeter fence.”

  Everett and Courtney helped her shove the beam to the side so they could all get close to the window.

  Everett wiped an area of residue from the glass so he could see out more clearly. Since the peacekeepers had enough to worry about in the parking lot, it was unlikely that they’d notice the small area of glass that Everett cleaned.

  Twenty armed men now stood on the roof of the building. One of the men held a megaphone and spoke with a South African accent. “This is an unlawful assembly. We demand that you disperse immediately.”

  Everett could hear the response from the crowd. “We want food.” Another yelled, “I’ve got kids to feed.”

  The guard with the megaphone replied. “The Global Republic is organizing relief efforts. As soon as the convoys arrive, we will begin dispensing aid.”

  “And when will that be? We’re starving now!”

  “Why didn’t you tell us about the fire?” Another angry person yelled.

  Still another protester shouted out, “Why weren’t we warned to store food and water?”

  “You knew about the blood and the fire!” The voices in the mob sounded angry.

  Everett watched one of the drunks from the truck lob a brick over the GR perimeter fence and into a window. The sound of broken glass was followed by the voice of a peacekeeper. “You’re under arrest!”

  A team of six peacekeepers armed in riot gear emerged from behind the fence to take custody of the man who threw the brick. The rioters jeered and booed as the GR troops restrained the man with zip ties.

  A voice that sounded like it could be Tommy screamed out, “You are the criminals! Why are we being arrested?

  The collective voice of the crowd grew angrier. A chant began to rise in unison. “Where’s our food? Where’s our food? Where’s our food?”

  Everett tried to identify Tommy or Lloyd in the crowd, but everyone had bandanas tied around their faces and hats on their heads.

  The man with the bullhorn shouted. “You will disperse immediately! Otherwise, you will be subject to detainment.”

  “Where’s our food? Where’s our food?” The mantra grew louder.

  Courtney stood next to Everett. “Uh-oh. That looks like teargas.”

  “Yep.” Sarah watched as two peacekeepers began firing teargas into the crowd.

  Everett crossed his arms and waited to see how the crowd would react. Those who were near the teargas moved to get out of the vicinity. Soon, a Molotov cocktail landed on the roof. A peacekeeper kicked some of the dirt, which had been spread across the roof to protect it from the plague of fire, over the flame to extinguish it.

  “Rubber bullets.” Sarah pointed at the shotgun in the hands of a peacekeeper. “The orange stock and forend indicate the weapon is only to be used with less lethal rounds.”

  Everett watched as the man began firing on the crowd. The people below quickly dispersed, taking cover behind burned-out cars or anything that would shield them from the assault.

  Gunfire rang out from below and two peacekeepers fell, one after the other. Courtney pressed against the window looking down at the chaos. “I guess the rioters didn’t know those were less lethal rounds.”

  “Or they didn’t care.” Sarah raised her weapon.

  “It could have been Tommy.” Everett held his weapon low.

  “Start looking for a target. As soon as we get the signal from Kevin, we’ll start taking out peacekeepers. I’ve got the guy with the radio. I think he’s in charge.” Sarah’s rifle followed the motion of the man holding the walkie-talkie.

  Everett found a target. “I’ve got the guy on the edge of the roof taking potshots at the crowd.” The man Everett had targeted fell backward following the sound of rifle fire from below. “Never mind. I’ve got the guy lying prone near the ledge.”

  Courtney said, “I’ll take the guy on the corner closest to us.”

  “Minus fifteen.” Kevin’s voice came across the radio.

  “That’s our signal. Fire on zero. Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen . . .”

  “Twenty.” Tommy’s voice followed Kevin’s on the radio.

  “Tommy picked up an extra twenty shooters.” Everett aimed at the center of the man’s back as he didn’t appear to be wearing heavy body armor.

  Sarah continued the countdown. “Three, two, one, fire!”

  All three rifles snapped in unison and all three of them hit their targets. Everett’s target rolled over and looked right at him as he leveled his rifle in their direction. Everett fired a quick succession of three more shots and the man fell limp.

  Gunfire rang out from the tower above them, eliminating three more peacekeepers. Next, the remaining guards on the roof quickly returned to the cover of the building.”

  Kevin’s voice came back over the radio. “I’m taking fire. Sarah, come to me.”

  “Let’s roll.” Sarah backed away from the window and led the way back down the stairs.

  Everett stayed close. The team exited the library the way they’d come, tapping Bennett and Silas to follow them as they left.

  Courtney filled the two men in on the plan. “Kevin was supposed to be getting in the gate to disable the GR vehicles. His team is taking fire, so we’re going to back him up.”

  Sarah led the way to the corner of the next building. “We’ll cut across the courtyard here.”

  “We have no cover.” Everett protested. “Shouldn’t we cut all the way back around the ORP?”

  “It’ll take too long. We’ll put down cover fire.” Sarah stood near the corner. “Cover me.”

  Everett furrowed his brow. It was obvious that she was making this decision because it was her husband who was in trouble and not because it was the best tactical choice.

  Sarah began sprinting across the courtyard and immediately rifle fire rang out from the windows of the GR compound. Everett identified the window the shots had originated from and returned fire.

  Sarah made it to the other side, took a position at the corner, and be
gan firing on the building as well.

  Everett looked at Courtney. “You go next. Sarah and I are both covering you. Now is the safest time to cross.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”

  He hated to push her into harm’s way, especially when it seemed so unnecessary. “I’m sure. Go. Go now!” Everett popped around the building and unleashed a barrage of gunfire as Courtney sprinted to the opposite corner. “Silas, Bennett, you guys both run. I’ll cover you.”

  “Ready when you are,” Silas stood behind Everett.

  Everett began firing as the two men ran across the courtyard.

  He was now the last to go. He peeked at the building. Another shooter was in position in the next window. With only Sarah providing cover fire, Everett’s only choice was to run faster than the second shooter could aim. “I’ll get his head down before I run.” Everett began laying heavy fire into the second window. He kept firing as he began his run to the other side. His magazine emptied out, and he turned his attention to the building where he was running. He bolted to the corner as fast as he could.

  “We made it.” Sarah leaned up against the wall.

  Everett changed magazines. “It was an unnecessary risk, Sarah. And you know it. I’ll follow your lead, but don’t do that again.”

  “Let’s keep moving.” She did not apologize or acknowledge his concern. There was one more dormitory between the team and the perimeter fence of the GR compound. Sarah dashed toward the corner of the last building with Everett, Courtney, Bennett, and Silas close behind.

  Elijah’s voice came over the radio. “Eight men just came out the back door of building M. They are moving toward building I. It looks like they could be trying to flank you.”

  “Thanks. If you guys have a shot, take it.” Sarah called back. She pointed to Bennett and Silas. “You guys watch that corner so they can’t sneak up on us.”

  Everett looked at the perimeter fence. “That must be the hole Kevin cut to get inside.”

  Courtney raised her rifle. “There’s Kevin, underneath that MaxxPro.” She shot one of the peacekeepers who was walking around the side of the armored vehicle, where Kevin was hiding.