by Mark Goodwin
They won’t go east toward Woodstock. Even though no one is left, Elijah will still think of it as a population center. He won’t follow Trout Run because that’s the valley. And the two of them are still tired, so they’ll be looking for something close by. They’ll head to that peak along the ridge, off to the west. But it’s wide open; no foliage whatsoever. I’ll have to stay back and use the stumps for cover.
Everett maintained his distance as the prophets made their way down the mountain, across the narrow valley below, then back up the adjacent ridge.
He took cover behind a seven-foot-tall, burned-out tree stump and retrieved his spotting scope. “Yep. That’s exactly where they’re heading.” He surveyed the surrounding topography. “If any threats come from the West Virginia side of the mountain, I won’t be able to see it until it’s right on top of them. But if I go to the other side, I won’t see what’s coming from this direction.” Everett continued to study the area through his scope until he identified a good location from which he could watch over the two men.
“There’s a small knoll with some big stumps for cover. I guess that’s where I’ll be for the next couple of days.” He stowed his scope and continued along his journey.
CHAPTER 2
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Isaiah 6:1-5
Friday morning, Everett awoke at first light. He couldn’t remember going to sleep. He could only recall his desperate shivering, which lasted until the wee hours of the night. He was still very cold. Hating every second of this frigid existence, he felt like a tropical bird, maybe a parrot or a toucan that had been accidentally locked in a meat cooler, exposed, painfully gelid, counting each sorrowful second as it passed.
The thick, gray wool blanket covered him, with only a small camping mat insulating him from the cold ground beneath. No natural materials like leaves or branches remained after the fires and Wormwood. He had nothing which could be used as additional insulation nor medium for constructing a shelter. Everett greatly wanted to chip away some of the dead, charred wood from the stump at his head for a fire. He longed to heat his water, to put something inside his stomach that might warm him up. But he couldn’t. He’d be noticed for sure.
Everett rolled to the side and pulled out his spotting scope. He peered up the slope and watched as Elijah and Moses kindled a fire using bits of the remaining stumps around them. “It’s like they know I’m here, and they’re mocking me.”
He rolled back behind cover and took an aged granola bar from his pack. He opened the package and poured the crumbly contents into his mouth. He washed it down with water that was much too cold, then returned to his lookout position.
Everett watched as the two prophets had breakfast, coffee, and then took out their Bibles. The two read silently as he looked on from a distance.
The sun slowly rose and began to warm the air. Everett felt more comfortable. The temptation to nod off crept in; his eyes grew heavy. Like a voice from outside, his weary mind called. You could rest for a few minutes. After all, you barely slept last night. They’ll be fine.
“No.” He vocalized his objection. “I came here to keep watch over them, and that’s what I’m going to do!”
The morning progressed and the two prophets stood up suddenly. “They must have heard something!” Everett traded his spotting instrument for the scope affixed to his rifle. He watched carefully, waiting for something, or someone to come over the ridge.
A sudden glare began to burn his eyes as if he were looking into the sun. He turned to the side and blinked several times, giving his eyes a rest. “Sunlight must be hitting the lens of the scope.” He looked over the rifle with his naked vision. The glare persisted, even with no scope, no glass to catch the rogue beam of daylight. Everett put his arm up to shield his face from the ultrabright luminescence. “It’s a person, inside the light.” He knew inside that this image was not a threat to the two prophets, so he did not draw his weapon.
The bright-shining figure’s glow softened, and Everett retrieved his spotting scope. His heart quickened. The man who appeared to them wore a bright-white robe, whiter than anything Everett had ever seen in his life. The man glistened like water in a flowing brook struck by dawn’s first rays. He spoke with Elijah and Moses as the two prophets listened intently.
“It must be an angel!” Everett focused the scope on the man’s hands. They were pierced. Everett’s hands shook as his eyes welled up with tears. The scope dropped from his quaking fingers. His dry lips mouthed a single word. “Messiah!”
The man in white looked toward Everett with compassion and love. Everett felt the strength leave his body and he lost consciousness.
Everett was aroused by someone shaking him. “Wake up, boy. Stand up. Stand on your feet.”
It was the voice of Moses. He was speaking brashly, and his face shined.
Everett became aware of his surroundings and quickly realized that what he witnessed was not a vision. It was real. He glanced up at Elijah whose face also had a gentle glow. He was smiling tenderly at Everett.
Everett looked up the slope where Elijah and Moses had been when he blacked out. He turned back to Elijah. “Where is . . .”
Elijah chuckled and offered Everett his hand. “He’ll be back.”
Everett stood up and collected his belongings. He felt confused, dizzy, a little light-headed, but in a good way. He slung his pack over his shoulder and picked up his rifle.
“Do not speak of this to the others.” Moses began walking back toward the cave.
Everett nodded and followed the two men.
Once back, Everett entered the cavern behind the prophets. He dropped his pack near the opening and sat down.
“Hey, you’re back!” Courtney kissed him.
His delayed response betrayed his preoccupation. “I missed you.”
“Are you okay?” she quizzed.
He forced himself to snap back to the here and now. “Oh, yeah. I didn’t sleep much last night. It’s got my head sort of foggy.”
Kevin greeted the returning team. “So, did you get an answer?”
Moses positioned a bucket near the rocket stove. “Yes.”
Sarah looked at him as if she were waiting for him to finish. “And?”
Elijah placed his hand on Sarah’s back as he took a seat next to Moses. “You are to assist us in getting out of the country.”
Her eyes showed her lack of clarity. “Me? Personally?”
“All of you.” Moses’ face was stiff as if he’d been inconvenienced. He pointed at Everett. “I think it is because of this one, if you’re looking for someone to blame.”
Embarrassed, Everett felt like he’d been caught stealing a mint from the purse of the preacher’s wife. He pleaded his case with Moses. “What? No. I didn’t mean any harm by following you. I didn’t intend to spy on you. I was just looking out for you. Elijah is an old friend. We’ve been through a lot together.”
Elijah laughed. “No. That is not what he means. Moses is saying that he believes God has a certain role for you to fulfill concerning these final hours of Earth’s history.”
“Oh. Okay.” Everett let out a sigh of relief. He was not being scolded like a school boy for having surreptitiously tagged along. “What does God want us to do?”
Moses laid out the requirements in a very economical fashion. “You must take down Dragon so Elijah and I may travel to the Holy Land without t
he Mark.”
Everett’s renewed sense of purpose quickly faded in the face of the impossible task. “Take down Dragon? We can’t take down Dragon. The system is self-aware. Artificial intelligence. It defends itself. Besides that, the Utah Data Center is the single most heavily-armed military installation on the planet. We can’t do it.”
Moses put both hands in the air. “Listen, I don’t know anything about artificial intelligence, or military data centers, or all these things, okay? I wasn’t planning to be around here for so long. I have no intention of learning all these computer things now. So, please don’t talk to me about this.” He pointed at Everett and lowered one eyebrow. “But one thing I know. If God says you can do it, you can. Don’t tell me what is impossible. I saw water turn to blood, sticks turned to snakes; I saw frogs and locusts cover the earth, I walked through the sea on dry land.” He paused but kept his finger pointed at Everett and his eyebrow cocked. “And I suspect you have seen the hand of God for yourself. So, do not tell me you can’t. And I might warn you against telling Jehovah that you can’t as well. Forty years I wandered because I was yoked to faithless unbelievers. I will not suffer it again.”
Now Everett had been put in his place. He nodded humbly and dared not to look Moses in the eye. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Good. Now let’s eat.” Moses slapped his hands on top of his thighs as if it were to issue a command for manna to fall from heaven.
Everett helped Courtney prepare lunch. She winked at him. “You got taken to the woodshed. Yikes! I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you, but I didn’t know what to say.”
Everett huffed. “No. Moses is right. I shouldn’t be so disbelieving. After everything I’ve seen, I don’t have an excuse.”
She spoke softly so no one else would overhear their conversation. “So, do you have any ideas?”
“Not one.” He pressed his lips together.
“John Jones left those schematics of the Utah Data Center in his safe.”
“It’s a smattering of hand drawn figures in an old notebook. It’s little more than sketched-out boxes with barely-legible labels. You’re getting pretty liberal with your use of the word schematics.”
“I just thought maybe we could get some ideas.” She dropped her head like a scolded pup.
He took her hand and smiled. “It’s a good plan. We’ll dig the notebook out after dinner.”
Once lunch was finished, Sarah and Kevin insisted on cleaning up. Everett and Courtney climbed the ladder into the long tunnel portion of the cave used as a storage area. They began looking through the various bins until they found the collection of John Jones’ belongings.
Everett finally located the old, spiral-bound booklet. He thumbed through the pages.
“Did you find it?” She shined her light in his direction.
“Yeah.” The notebook was filled with notes and flow-of-consciousness thoughts. Many of the pages were a sort of diary. “I feel like I’m violating his privacy.”
“He wouldn’t mind. Just flip through to the diagrams.” Courtney looked over his shoulder.
Everett turned to the back. “Data Center.”
“What does that say?” Courtney pointed to some chicken-scratched notes.
“1.7 million gallons water per day.”
“What’s 1.7 million gallons of water per day?”
Everett shrugged. “That’s probably what it takes to keep the server stacks cool.”
Everett turned the page. “Look, there’s a scale at the bottom of the page. Here’s the Data Center and here’s the pump station, all the way down by Lake Utah.”
“So according to Jones’ scale, that’s what, four miles?”
Everett nodded. “Yeah. No water, no Dragon.”
She stared at the hand-drawn map. “I’m sure the water supply of the global order’s motherboard is going to be guarded.”
“But not like the Data Center itself.” A smile slowly began to creep across Everett’s mouth. “Come on. Let’s go tell the others!”
Everett led the way down the ladder and took the notebook to Elijah. “This is a loose diagram of the Utah Data Center where the seven quantum computers that make up Dragon are housed.”
Kevin and Sarah looked on from either side of Elijah.
Kevin pointed to the area on the map next to the Data Center. “Jones wrote National Guard base. This map was drawn pre-Global Republic. The GR base is probably much larger now.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Everett said. “But we’re not focusing on the Data Center or the military base.” His finger glided across the page to the notes. “According to this, Dragon needs 1.7 million gallons of water a day to keep the server stacks cool. The pump station that supplies the water is four miles south on the bank of Lake Utah.”
Sarah crossed her arms. “That pump house is critical infrastructure. It’s going to be heavily guarded.”
Everett rebutted, “We don’t know that. Think about how vulnerable the sea ports and critical infrastructure were in America prior to the collapse. I think you’re overestimating the GR’s competence.”
Sarah shook her head. “Cassie Parker, the woman in our group who saw all of this coming, said those vulnerabilities were intentional. Her theory was that by leaving the borders porous, ports susceptible to attack, and infrastructure unguarded, the globalists were inviting additional chaos from which to build the new order.”
Everett lifted his eyebrows. “She was at least half-right. You can’t refute the facts. But, human laziness and complacency have always been around. Courtney and I worked in the intelligence community for years, and we saw it all the time.
“The pump house probably has some security, but I’m guessing we could go in, hit them hard, destroy the water pumps, and get out before the main base knows they’re under attack.”
Kevin stroked his beard. “I’m not so sure about that. The Data Center will have aerial drone surveillance 24/7. Those drones could be redirected and over us in seconds.”
Elijah said, “Perhaps a diversionary force could hit the Data Center head-on while a smaller contingency attacked the water pumps.”
Everett nodded and looked at Kevin. “That might work. What do you think?”
Kevin chortled. “We’re four people. We don’t even have enough to attack the water pumps, much less split up into two elements.”
“We could ask Tommy.” Courtney stuck her hands in her pockets.
Sarah sighed. “The team that goes directly at the Data Center is going to take heavy losses. It would be a suicide mission.”
Everett’s voice sounded grim. “We’ve got another three and a half years on a planet that is growing more hostile by the day. I’m in no hurry to die, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to what’s coming either. If it’s a suicide mission, so be it. It’s something that has to be done.”
Kevin’s face looked serious as he glanced up at Everett. “You’re right. I’m in.”
“Kevin’s not going anywhere without me,” Sarah stated.
Courtney put one hand around Everett’s waist. “You’re not going to heaven and leaving me on this God-forsaken globe. No discussions, no arguments; I’m going also.”
Everett didn’t like that. He certainly didn’t want to leave her behind, but he couldn’t stand the thought of watching her get killed in the operation. A corner of his mouth lifted. “Then it’s settled. I’ll set up the radio and try to reach Tommy later this evening.”
CHAPTER 3
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 1
Everett helped Courtney up for the first step onto the hill of mud, rock, and tree roots blocking the road.
“I hope the ATV is still where we left it.” He followed behind her, using his hands to steady himself as he climbed.
“If it is, I hope it starts.” Courtney reached a point where the landslide plateaued and stood up straight.
Everett joined her, also standing erect. “The snow sure is pretty.”
“Any other day, I’d agree with you. But this trip is challenging enough without the added peril of slippery trails and icy roads.”
He pointed ahead. “I think that’s the ATV.”
Courtney’s eyes followed his finger. “I think you’re right.”
The two of them made their way to the white hump, which they suspected to be their vehicle. Everett began scooping the snow away with his gloves. Courtney joined him. They eventually dug down to the blue tarp covering the machine and removed it.
Everett said a silent prayer as he started the engine. The ATV stalled out after the first try but began humming steadily after the second start. He got on and revved the engine. “You need a ride, young lady?”
She got on the rear of the vehicle and held on to his pack. “Yeah, but I have to be home before the street lights come on.”
He laughed. “That might be a good long while.”
The two of them made their way cautiously across the field of snow, slowly picking a path through the obstacles jetting up from the pure white covering. The debris, which had been left by the massive earthquake, subsequent landslide, and asteroid assault was much easier to navigate when it wasn’t covered in snow.