Chapter 13
Escape
Jeff threw a couch pillow at Sal from her bedroom door. She awoke abruptly and comically realized his caution.
"Seen any watermelons trucks, yet?" she asked laughing.
"No, not a sign. You have only three hours before noon, not much time. They have to show up soon. I don't know where this commune is, but you have to get out of Davidson County before the CE's put up their roadblocks.
"I'm packed. Let me get a shower, and I'll be ready to go. Are you going to follow us in your Hummer or take your bike?" she asked while wrapping herself modestly in a blanket as she walked towards the bathroom.
"Both. Hey, I could always trade one of them for something if I had to," he commented while staring at her intensely as she walked away from him. She closed the bathroom door in his face as he followed too close.
Jeff pulled the Hummer out to the street curb and sat on its hood. If the watermelon truck came by, he wanted to make sure he could get them to wait until Sal got down. An hour passed that left Jeff saluting various circling cars and trucks he thought were staking out their territories.
It was 10 a.m. when he saw that crazy black man walking towards him. He got big-time goose bumps and thought nervously, "This has to be Caleb. He said he was, didn't he? Why not? Couldn't angels do or be just about anything or anybody?"
Caleb saw a truck full of watermelons headed his way. They would get to Jeff's corner about the same time he did. Jeff saw Caleb glance beyond him and jumped with excitement when he saw the truck approaching.
"Sal! Sal! You got to get down here now! Hurry! I see the watermelon truck! Hurry! They may not stop for a marked person!" he yelled as he started waving at the truck to stop.
Sal heard him yelling and grabbed her backpack, her sister's Bible, and stuck that troublesome cross in her pocket. As she ran out the door, the man in the apartment across the hall was leaving too. He turned towards her and looked directly at her hand—no mark. He looked at his watch and frowned.
"You're not marked. You're not going to be, are you?" He grabbed her and threw her against the hall wall that caused Nikki's Bible to fall out of her backpack.
"You're not marked, and you're a believer. Little girl, you're going to make me some money today!"
Jeff couldn't take the time to come back to get her. What happened to her? Why wasn't she down already? He was panicking. Caleb reached Jeff's Hummer and nodded towards the apartment. Jeff knew what to do. Caleb stepped out into the street directly in front of the watermelon truck.
Jeff ran towards the apartment and heard Sal screaming, "Jeff, help me!"
The man grabbed her as she tried to get past him, and this time her breath was knocked out of her when she hit the floor. He took full advantage while wrapping her hands with an electrical cord electricians left in the hall from fixing the lights a week ago. She was kicking at him while gasping for air and unable to yell.
The man kept looking for someone to come, but no one did. "Looks like your boy friend ran off on you. You're my gold mine now."
"Not likely!" shouted Jeff as he tackled him with a full-body waist slam. He hit him so hard that Jeff heard his ribs caving in as he hit the ground. Jeff unhooked his pocketknife hanging from his belt and threw it Sal's way. She grabbed at it while desperately trying to move it between her hands but could barely cut it. Jeff stood up and kicked the man several times as a warning not to get up. The man turned towards the hall wall while crying and whimpering.
He babbled, "I just wanted to make some money. That's all."
Jeff saw Sal struggling with the knife and took it from her. He cut her loose and pushed her towards the street. He spotted the Bible on the floor and picked it up, then quickly followed her, almost falling down the stairs.
Just as they got to the street, they saw the watermelon truck stopped by Caleb. The driver was standing in front of Caleb yelling at him to move. Caleb kept bowing and mimicking singing. Several others got out to try to move him out of the way. The scene they were making made them all nervous. They kept looking about them for CE's or worse.
Sal was yelling at them, "Don't leave without me, please!"
The driver stopped pushing on Caleb for a second, "Who in the heck are you?"
"I'm hitching a ride. That's what I am," replied Sal as she rushed to Caleb's side.
"Who says?" asked the man sarcastically. He spotted Jeff coming out of the apartments carrying a Bible, but noticed he was marked—the chip wound still red with a crusty scab.
"Lady, I don't know you. I don't care to know you. We aren't going to give you a ride anywhere," he shouted nervously, then looked at passing cars with people staring at them too inquisitively.
Jeff interrupted, "Yes, you are! She's unmarked. We know—who you are—and where you're going."
The man looked confused, "How could you know anything about us?"
"Because, I told them," announced Caleb, still in his human form.
"How would you know anything about us?" asked the man, still more confused.
"Get in the front seat, Sal. I'll drive. You get in the back with the rest of your group. Jeff, you follow in that Hummer thing. Here, give me your Bible. Here sir, take it. Let's get out of here."
The man was so flustered that he screamed, "Hold on! Hold on a blasted minute! Will someone please tell me what's going on?"
Caleb was frustrated this time. He couldn't show himself but felt they wouldn't believe him if he didn't. He looked up and down the street. There wasn't any traffic so he pushed the man forcibly against the truck door and changed to his true angel form, wings and all, even pulling out his massive sword from the sheath on his back. He instantly turned back into his human form again.
"Does that answer your question?" asked Caleb while watching the surprised looks from everyone except Sal.
Sal reached out and grabbed him around his waist. "I knew it was you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Do what the angel said, Harry," replied Mandy's voice from the truck.
"Holy Mackerel!" shouted Harry. "Get in the truck, please, drive, get in! Let's get out of here! Do you know where we're going?" asked the driver.
"Yes! What kind of angel would I be if I didn't know that?" replied Caleb laughing.
"You're marked wrong, son, but we'll just have to deal with that later. Follow us," he said to Jeff as he noticed him getting into the Hummer.
The watermelon truck was piled high with bright green watermelons, and they pushed through Nashville traffic with 15 other passengers who peeked out through the narrow side slats in a false floor. There were four families, three with newborns, and Mandy with her friend from the PEC Center. They were praying and rejoicing over their angel luck. It was 11 a.m. before they got to the outskirts of Nashville while having to follow a long military convoy to the edge of town. The Davidson County line was 15 more miles. The traffic was a snarled mess, and they sat for another 30 minutes only ten miles away from the line at 11:30 a.m.
"Why did you do all this for me?" asked Sal to Caleb.
"Because, you're part of the plan. You may not know it, doubt you would, but your mother and father are very proud of you now. They will see the glory of God sprouting trees of righteousness in you."
"Have you met my mother and father?" she asked with tears in her eyes from his comment.
"Of course! They're a great couple, don't you think?"
"Oh, Caleb, I can't thank you enough for telling me that. I am still considering, you know?"
"Yes, I know. But, it's still your decision. It has to be. I want to say something to you, but I don't want you take it the wrong way."
"What's that?" asked Sal as she stared into his crazy man's face.
"I can't tell you looking like this. Here, just let me change a little." His face turned to the real Caleb and looked mismatched on the skinny black man's body.
"You look funny, Caleb," laughed Sal.
"Well, that's not exactly t
he effect I wanted. Just look into my eyes, will you? Just for a minute?" he asked as he reached out touching her face and rubbing her mouth with his thumb.
The traffic was speeding up, and he looked into her eyes and back on the road again while hoping no one noticed him. "I just wanted you to know that my assignment to you is personal."
"Personal, just what does that mean?" asked Sal mystified.
"It means, since I was created, I've never bothered to take a second look at any heir-servant angel or human women, but you have my full attention. It means that I care for you far more than just an angel on a mission. I've said too much. I'm being goofy." He was embarrassed and changed back again, then dropped his hand to his lap, and then grabbed the gearshift working them down rather than braking as he came up on another slowdown.
"Do you mean that you have a crush on me? Wow, you sure know how to catch girl off guard. What in the world am I supposed to say to that?" she asked while shaking her head in disbelief.
"Don't say anything, please. I just wanted to let you know, that's all," he said as they moved within five miles of the county line.
"Look, there's men with roadblock stuff on the side of the road looking at their watches. We're on a countdown, now. Are we going to make it?" exclaimed Sal.
"We have to. Too much is at stake. Way too much. Do you see those very tall good-looking men with the military, the officers?"
"Yes, one third of them look like that."
"They're dark angels. They're pulling the strings on all this," he replied as he waved at them as they passed by them. They seemed to focus on each car while trying to see if anyone warranted being pulled aside. They were also looking for Mandy and her friend from the PEC. It seems that their escape was quite an embarrassment. With all the other activity going on, they were visibly distracted and had just about given up catching them.
At the county line, the military was starting to pull their transports across the road as the clock showed 11:58 a.m. Caleb noticed the movement and gunned the truck. Just as a transport moved halfway across, Caleb swerved to the left—his back bumper clipping the front bumper of the transport. It stopped from the small clip, and it gave Jeff just enough time to squeeze through on the left side while scraping the concrete median for over 20 feet. There was some yelling and shouting from the to-be road blockers, then a waving them off as they sped away.
The military swarmed with great efficiency with each soldier armed with I.D. scanners. Military police were standing by to take violators away as they were found. Some of unmarked that tried to get out before the deadline had stopped their cars trying to run past them. They were shot down in a hail of bullets.
The sound from the back of the truck was a crescendo of praise and rejoicing. They had made it; and now, they approached Murfreesboro. As Caleb pulled through downtown Murfreesboro, Jeff pulled beside them doing a thumbs up.
Sal moved closer to Caleb in spite of his form and put her arm through his as they drove back towards Highway 70S. Caleb was happier for his honesty; although Aaron and his old friends were talking about his Sal crush as the best gossip in heaven.
Aaron only said, "He shouldn't have told her that."
Irish nudged him in protest, "I think it was sweet, romantic. I love it."
"You would, Irish," replied Aaron as he encircled her with his arms and kissing her tenderly. "Actually, I think it was pretty neat myself. Remind you of anyone?" he asked while knowing that he did something similar to Irish thousands of years before.
The rolling hills of Woodbury appeared just after leaving Murfreesboro. As they approached, the news of the murder of the Count and Sister Jessica was filling the headlines and blasting across the radio. No one accounted for how they died, just that they had been killed in the Embassy Hotel in Baghdad.
Caleb said from a song, "One little, two little, three little Indians."
Sal asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, the Count was just a pawn in Apollyon's plans, but that Sister Jessica was another matter. She's a dark angel. She must have been killed by another dark angel. That's scary. They're murdering their own, now! I bet I know exactly who it was, too."
"Who?" asked Sal.
"Andre Montplier's wife, Angelica," replied Caleb.
"An angel is married to Montplier? How is that possible?" she was shocked and looked at Caleb's face going blank for a minute.
"Sal, angels marry humans all the time. You just don't know about it. They even have children called Nephilims. We think that the President's wife is a Nephilim. She might be even more dangerous to us in the U.S., than Angelica."
"So angels can do that? They're allowed to be with humans? That's wonderful!" her enthusiasm uncovered some of her own thoughts, and she turned ten-shades red and went quiet.
Caleb thought her reaction was like getting a presidential vote of confidence. At least, he knew she didn’t reject him.
Armageddon Darkness Page 15
