by Mark Goodwin
The trip was uneventful until they reached the Turkish coastal city of Iskenderun. Shortly after the highway crossed into the city limits, plumes of smoke could be seen rising up from various spots in the west. The road followed the edge of the mountains to the east and offered an elevated vantage point of the buildings below.
“Looks like this city has seen their share of suicide bombers.” Courtney’s voice was glum.
Sarah exclaimed, “We’ve got three technicals on our tail flying black flags! Any chance you can talk to these guys, Ali?”
Ali checked his side view mirror. He sounded unnerved. “No. This isn’t checkpoint. These guys are look and destroy.”
Everett figured he meant search and destroy, but the message was clear enough. “What are we going to do?”
“We must fight.” Ali lowered his window and pulled out his pistol.
Everett glanced in the rearview. “Think you can do a little better than a peashooter, Sarah?”
“Roger that. I’m gonna have a rough time hanging out the window with you doing eighty, though.”
Everett checked the distance between the Tiguan and the pickups on his tail. “If I slow down, they’ll close the gap quick. You might not get a shot off.”
“I’ll open the rear hatch. Sarah can shoot straight out the back!” Courtney exclaimed.
“Watch out for the back blast!” Everett passed his rifle to Ali. “This might work better for what you’re trying to do. Give the girls some cover fire when they throw open the hatch.”
Ali took the rifle and stuck it out the window.
Everett could hear the wind from outside the vehicle when the rear hatch popped up. Automatic gunfire rang out from the pickup behind him. A series of bullets flew through the cabin of the vehicle and shattered the front windshield. “You need to take this guy out, Sarah!”
“Deploying now!”
Everett ducked low in his seat and shielded his face with his arm from the violent back blast of the rocket being fired inside the vehicle. The sound of the M72 LAW launching from the back seat drowned out the noise of Ali shooting as well as the gunfire from the truck behind them.
BOOM! Everett couldn’t look up to see what had happened. He had to stay focused on the small section of unshattered windshield in the lower left corner so he could see where they were going. The cheers and yelps from the back seat told him that at least one of the vehicles had been taken out. Ali continued to fire the rifle, which told Everett at least one vehicle was still on their tail. “What’s happening?”
“Take cover! Deploying rocket two!” Sarah’s voice preceded a second loud blast from the back seat.
BOOM! Everett quickly checked the side view, which was right beside his small driving porthole in the windshield. It only took a second for him to see one of the vehicles explode into a ball of flames. A second vehicle emerged from the fireball, careened into the guard rail between the road and the cliff, then took flight. Everett put his eyes back on the road but could hear the smash as the second vehicle landed fifty feet below the edge of the road on his right.
“Good work team. Is everybody okay?” Everett kept driving.
“We’re fine,” Courtney said.
“I am alright, too.” Ali lowered the rifle.
Sarah added, “I’m good, but it’s a little breezy back here. You might want to pull over so we can close the hatch.
Everett confirmed that they weren’t being followed and pulled onto the shoulder. He’d make use of the pit stop to kick out the windshield. The rest of the trip would be windy, but he couldn’t drive much further without being able to see out the front.
The team arrived at the outskirts of Antakya two hours later. The trip should have taken only one hour, but the roads through the mountains were heavily damaged from the quake. Towers of smoke rose up all around the city, accented by distant rifle report. Everett slowed down. “Let me know where to turn.”
Ali’s expression revealed his displeasure. “This is not good.”
“Sounds like fighting.” Sarah leaned forward from the back seat.
“Probably MOC and Hezbollah.”
“This is a little far north for Hezbollah, isn’t it?” Courtney asked.
“Hezbollah send up some militia to stop MOC from advance into Antakya. Antakya have last big Alawite population after Syria fall to ISIS and later take over by MOC.”
“Regretfully, I was involved in that conflict,” Sarah said. “I thought I was helping to spread democracy and liberate the Syrian people when we took down Assad. As it turned out, he was a saint compared to the radical Sunni cleric who ultimately ended up with all the power in the region.”
Ali looked like he had a comment to add to Sarah’s confession, but said nothing.
“Is Hezbollah made up of Alawites?” Courtney inquired.
“Most, no.” Ali turned around to face the back seat. “But have some. Lebanese Shia, Hezbollah, Alawite, all are Twelver.”
“Twelvers. Those are the Shia that believe in the Twelfth Imam, the ones who are backing Luz, right?” Everett glanced over.
“Correct.” Ali pointed ahead. “This is road to my cousin.”
Everett slowed down to turn off the main road. A loud blast erupted a quarter mile down the street, and a plume of smoke mushroomed toward the sky.
Ali began speaking in Turkish as if to Allah, but more likely to himself.
Everett heard the exchange of small arms fire at the end of the street and stopped the vehicle. “Ali, buddy. That’s a hot zone down there. I can’t drive through. I don’t know who’s who, and neither MOC nor Hezbollah is going to be very excited to see a vehicle full of Americans.”
“They’ll take a break from killing each other long enough to wipe us out,” Sarah said. “I’ve already had the pleasure of being shot at by both teams the last time I was in the neighborhood.”
“Can we drop you off here?” Everett let the engine idle.
“I don’t know.” Ali stared at the fighting only a few blocks away. “I come here to get away from all this.”
“We’ve got an MRAP flying a MOC flag coming up behind us! Everett, we’ve got to get out of here!” Sarah yelled.
Everett looked up at the rearview to see the huge armored vehicle headed right for him. He floored the gas pedal and sped straight for the fighting. “Ali, you’ve got to get us out of here!”
“Left, turn left now!” Ali pointed and shook his hand.
Everett swung the vehicle down the dirt road where Ali pointed. “Now what?”
“The next left! Take it. We must get to the highway that go around Antakya.”
Everett turned hard again and gunned the engine, speeding down another road, blowing past stop signs.
“Another left, then first right!” Ali yelled as he looked backward.
“Are they still behind us?” Everett asked.
“I think so, no.” Ali turned around and watched the road in front of them.
Everett quickly made the maneuver and sped up a narrow, paved road, which led through some olive groves.
“We lost them,” Courtney confirmed.
Feeling relieved at escaping the latest peril, Everett took a deep breath. “I can’t go back through there, Ali. If you want me to drop you off somewhere else, let me know.”
“I don’t even know if my cousin will still be there. Maybe he leave. Or maybe he killed.”
“You’re welcome to go to Jerusalem with us,” Courtney offered.
Ali looked down at the floorboard and then up at Everett. “What do you say about that?”
Everett turned to Ali. “If you want to come, we’d be glad to have you. You know the region better than any of us. Plus, you speak Arabic and Turkish.”
“And English,” he added.
“That’s stretching it,” Everett quipped.
“What? You don’t understand my English?” Ali sounded insulted.
“It’s a joke, Ali.” Everett chuckled. “I understand you just fine.”
Ali’s face softened. He nodded. “I go to Jerusalem with you guys.”
“Great. Just tell us how to get there.”
“I never go before. But probably better you go by coast.”
Everett lowered his brow. “Isn’t the coast more populated?”
Ali replied confidently, “Yes, but Latakia, Tartus, Tripoli, Beirut, all have port. All port have Global Republic military base now.”
Courtney reminded him, “I would think we want to stay as far away as possible from port cities. You said MOC took your truck to make a car bomb to attack the port in Mersin.”
“Exactly.” Ali showed his big white teeth as he nodded. “If MOC is busy to attack GR in port, they don’t have time for us. If Everett drive inland, to the east, all territory is held by MOC. They don’t have more to do than kill American driving through.
“Especially Tripoli and Beirut. MOC have to fight Hezbollah and GR. Other choice is go through Homs and Damascus. I don’t pointing finger, but Sarah do very good job there. All Assad regime gone. MOC control everything. Between there and coast, is only desert and mountain.”
Sarah made a tisking sound. “Thanks for the compliment.”
Everett stretched his arms and loosened his neck. “The coast it is, then.”
The team continued south, navigating toward the sea. Each city they passed showed evidence of attacks. Small arms fire could be heard in some. Smoke plumes from fires and bombs were visible in all. Everett maintained the highest speed that road conditions would allow. He encountered very few other vehicles, but the conditions of the highways were pitiful.
CHAPTER 18
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Matthew 23:37
The team eventually crossed the imaginary line that had once been the Israeli border. The trip which should have taken only fourteen hours had taken more than a day. GRBN radio played continuously in the cabin of the Tiguan. Most of the information was the same report played in a twenty-minute loop, which was updated every two hours. Everett noticed the sound of the reporter’s voice to be different and guessed it was an updated news release.
While still female and British, it was a different GRBN news anchor who said, “The Global Republic’s official list of suicide bombings has broken through 1,000 with more confirmed attacks being added every minute. Estimates say as many as 10,000 personal ordinances have been detonated worldwide, but in many instances, the occurrences have yet to be added to the official list because no communications are in working order to report the incidents, or no survivors are available.
“Global Republic peacekeepers have been deployed to set up hard perimeters around the capital city of Jerusalem. The cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ashdod have also been cordoned off by Global Republic security forces. Tel Aviv has the only international airport to service the new capital, while Haifa and Ashdod provide major seaports for cargo ships.”
Ali held a paper map and motioned for Everett to turn. “Quickly. Turn left!”
Everett complied. “What’s up?”
“Haifa is just ahead. Probably you don’t want question from GR checkpoint.”
“Good call. Can we get to Jerusalem this way?”
“Yes, but I don’t know what we do when we get there. Nobody have Mark.”
“We’ll come up with a plan.” Everett tried to project confidence in his voice, but he had no idea how they’d get through the checkpoint.
“You better make fast. We be there in one hour and a half.”
“We’ve still got seven rockets,” Sarah said.
Ali buried his head in his hands. “Crazy American going to get me killed for sure.”
Courtney reached up from the back and placed her hand on Ali’s shoulder. “We’ll come up with something more subtle.”
The team arrived at the Jerusalem checkpoint just before sunrise, Sunday morning.
“Okay, what is the plan?” Ali asked confidently.
Everett pulled into a parking lot across the street from the guard gate, cutting the lights and the engine. “I’m still thinking.”
Ali’s smile faded. “Still thinking? What do you mean? We need plan now.”
“I count four vehicles and twelve peacekeepers. Four rockets will clear them right out,” Sarah’s voice revealed that she wasn’t serious, but Ali didn’t pick up on the intonations.
“No, no, no. They will have peacekeeper all around city looking for us! We never get away!” Ali’s hands flapped in the air violently.
Everett fought back a grin. “Relax, Ali. We’re not going in with rockets.”
Ali shook his finger toward the back seat. “This is not time to play.”
Tink! Everett heard what sounded like a rock hitting the hood of the Tiguan.
“What was that noise?” Courtney asked.
Everett turned to Ali with a look of urgency in his eyes. “I could tell you were thinking about what I said regarding Jesus. I’m guessing you’ve been mulling it over in your mind for the past few hours. If you trust what I said about him being God, about him being the Messiah, the Savior of the world, now is the time for you to tell him you believe.”
“Everett, you are scaring me. Are we going to die?” Ali’s eyes opened wide.
“No, but if you hesitate on making that confession of faith, you’ll wish you were dead.”
Ali swatted a bug that flew in the hole left by the missing windshield. “Locusts!”
“What do you say, Ali?” Everett pleaded.
“I . . I . . I can’t say. I don’t know. What you say, maybe is true. I don’t know.” Ali looked at Everett with an expression of sincerity.
Everett pressed his lips together with a nod. “I understand.” Everett quickly thought up a plan. “Courtney, Sarah, fast! Change places with me and Ali.”
The girls rushed out of the back doors.
“Cover your face and get in the back floorboard, Ali!” Everett yelled as he jumped out of the driver’s seat.
Ali swatted another bug, then complied with Everett’s instruction. Everett lay on top of Ali in the floorboard, shielding Ali’s body with his own. Everett called out to Courtney who’d taken the driver’s seat. “As soon as the locusts hit the peacekeepers, crash through the gate, and keep driving!”
The sound of buzzing grew louder inside the cabin of the Tiguan. Courtney called out, “Okay, the peacekeepers are getting stung all over. I’m going to go for it. Hang on!”
The engine raced. Everett heard the crash of the vehicle barreling through the gate. Courtney continued speeding through town, away from the checkpoint.
“Are we being followed?” Everett asked.
“All clear. Those guys have enough problems. They don’t have time to worry about us,” Sarah said.
Everett could still hear the locusts buzzing around the cabin. “What’s the bug situation outside?”
“Still pretty thick,” Courtney said.
“Okay, let me know if they thin out. For now, let’s head for the old city.”
Courtney slowed down but continued driving for several miles. Sarah gave directions from a paper map of Jerusalem.
Minutes later, Courtney said, “The bugs are gone.”
Everett sat up to see that they were traveling on a narrow road that weaved between old stone walls and through tunnels that passed beneath ancient towers. The sun was rising.
Finally, the street opened up, with the wall of the city on the right, and several small shops on the left. Everett glanced at his watch. “Six o’clock. Maybe the shops will be opening soon.”
He helped Ali get up from the floor board. “Are you okay?”
Ali straightened his shirt and combed his hair with his fingers. “Why the locusts don’t sting you?”
“You read the book. They can’t hurt the people with the mark of God.
”
Sarah pointed ahead. “There’s a parking spot. You better take it. I doubt we’ll get closer to the Temple than this.”
Courtney parked behind another vehicle, which had pulled up on the curb between a stone building and the outer wall of the city. “I guess if it gets towed, we’ll figure something out.”
Everett got out of the vehicle, folded the stock of his rifle and stowed it in his duffle bag. He put on his pack, and let the duffle hang in front so he could get to the rifle in a hurry if need be. The team elected to wear civilian clothing given the recent popularity of peacekeepers with the Martyrs of the Caliphate. He waited for the girls to gear up as well. “Ready?”
Sarah put on her sunglasses to block the bright light coming from the east. “Let’s roll.”
Everett led the way with Courtney at his side, Ali in the middle, and Sarah taking the rear. They passed beneath a small pedestrian tunnel that passed through a building from the street. Once on the other side, Everett stared at the walls on either side of the narrow passageway. Off-white, roughly hewn stones made up the walls, staircases, and buildings.
The signs were in Hebrew. He quickly identified the area as being the Jewish Quarter. The path beneath his feet was also made of the large stones. They finally came to a row of tables covered with umbrellas. Everett looked around. “That’s the Temple Institute. I’m going in this café and see if I can get us something to eat.”
“How are you going to do that?” Courtney flipped her wrist as if trying to activate her fake Mark.
“A lot of these folks have fakes. I’ve got silver. Just watch my stuff.” Everett dropped his pack and duffle by one of the tables.
He walked up to the deli-style counter. An Orthodox Jewish man was opening the store.
“Excuse me, do you speak English?”
“Yes.” The man turned to him.
“Could you accept silver as payment?” Everett flipped his wrist for the man. “When Dragon came back online, my Mark never reactivated. Some kind of glitch, I guess.”
The man’s face tightened as he looked out the door, through the window, and all around the inside of the café. “You should be careful, my friend,” he said just above a whisper. “How do you know I won’t report you?”