The Days of Elijah, Book One: Apocalypse: A Novel of the Great Tribulation in America

by Goodwin,Mark

  Everett knew the comment was intended as a threat. He glanced over his shoulder to see if any of the guards were pursuing them. None were, but one was talking on his radio, and Everett was sure he knew why. He had to sprint hard to catch up with Elijah. “I think we’re going to have company. We should look for a place to lay low.”

  Elijah turned to look at Everett. “Yeah, maybe so.”

  The team continued a quick pace as they moved up Virginia Avenue. Everett took a quick turn onto 20th and called out to the others who were all within earshot, “If we can get back to the university, we can at least duck into the yard. It will be tougher to spot us from a vehicle.”

  It was a three-block sprint back to George Washington University, Everett led the way through a narrow walkway and into a courtyard where they wouldn’t be visible from the street. They’d arrived in the nick of time. Sirens from New Atlantis Police cars could be heard just blocks away. Everett bent down, putting his hands on his knees and fighting to catch his breath, just as the others were doing.

  “We can’t stay here long. As soon as campus security gets an alert, we’ll be made.” Sarah scanned the handful of students walking through the courtyard.

  Everett thought fast. “They’ve probably only recently resumed classes and I can’t imagine they’ve got a ton of people enrolled since the collapse. If we can tail someone with a security card in a door, we can go up to one of the upper floors where no classes are being held. Who knows, we might even find an unlocked door.”

  Kevin knuckled his brow. “I don’t like it, but I can’t think of anything better.”

  Everett replied, “Elijah looks like he could be a professor, and the rest of us aren’t much older than the average student. Plus, we’re wearing backpacks. I think we can pull it off.”

  “Then let’s strike while the iron is hot.” Courtney began walking. “There’s my mark.”

  Everett looked at the slightly overweight young man walking toward the door that Courtney had nodded at. “What is she doing?” Everett watched as she sped ahead of everyone else, timing her arrival at the door to coincide with the boy she’d labeled as her mark. He observed her as she smiled at the boy and said hi, walking in the door behind him. Everett saw the boy acknowledge her, return the salutation, and bashfully turn away. Everett guessed that Courtney was roughly four leagues above any girl that had ever smiled at the boy, much less spoken to him.

  Kevin patted Everett on the shoulder as he headed toward the door. “Operation honey pot is a success.”

  Everett forced a smile, as he didn’t appreciate the comment. Seconds later, Courtney held the door open so the rest of the team could come in. They quickly located the stairs and made their way up to the third floor. Kevin took out his knife and unlocked the door to a vacant classroom. They stood near enough to the window to watch the police cars driving by, but far enough to not be spotted standing there.

  “Now what?” Sarah asked.

  Everett shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we wait and hope they call off the search.”

  Kevin walked around the room and took a seat at a desk. “I say we stay here until nightfall. And then break up into two teams, so we don’t look like the group of five people the police are looking for.”

  Courtney sat down as well. “What if we just space ourselves out several yards? You guys take the lead as a couple. Elijah could follow fifty yards behind you then Everett and I can trail behind another fifty or sixty yards. Two separate couples and one man by himself. Then if we run into trouble, one of the other team could assist.”

  “Good idea.” Everett looked at Kevin. “What do you think?”

  Kevin nodded. “Yeah, but if we get into a firefight, we need a rendezvous point.”

  Sarah said, “The car. If we can get all the way back to the Camaro, it’s probably safe to say we weren’t followed.”

  Elijah nodded his approval. “Does everyone agree?”

  Each of them gave some gesture to let it be known that they concurred with the proposed course of action.

  CHAPTER 9

  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

  Revelation 14:9-11

  The next few hours passed very slowly for Everett. He listened for footsteps in the hallway then returned to monitor the street below. After repeating this motion several times, Courtney finally said, “Everett, can you please sit down? You’re making me nervous.”

  He frowned, but complied with her request, for a while. As the sun began to set, he resumed walking back and forth to listen for footsteps and look out the window.

  Minutes later, Kevin stood up. “It’s pretty close to dark, and I’m not hearing anymore sirens. I say we move now.”

  Everett nodded. He’d had enough of the anticipation. Everett led the way out the door and down the stairs. When they hit the first floor, they ran into a security guard coming out of the stairwell.

  “Can I see your pass?” he asked. Fortunately, he was armed only with a radio.

  Everett restrained the panic he felt inside. “Sure.” He smiled and reached toward his back pocket as if he were going for his pass. Everett quickly drew his pistol and leveled it at the guard’s head. “Place your radio on the ground. And be super quiet. I’ll kill you if you make a sound.” Everett’s face fell hollow. “You guys go ahead and start moving. We’ll walk him back upstairs and restrain him. We’ll catch up.”

  Kevin, Sarah and Elijah nodded and proceeded out the door.

  Everett and Courtney hurried the guard up the stairwell to the classroom which they’d left unlocked in case they had to return. Everett held the gun on the man. “Strip down to your underwear.”

  The man complied without argument.

  “Take his boots and pull his laces out. You can use those to secure him to a desk.”

  Courtney nodded and began removing the laces. Next, she began tying his hands behind his back. Once he was secure, Everett turned the desk toward the window and draped the guard’s shirt over his head. “You better count to a thousand before you start yelling for help. I’m going to be quietly waiting right outside this door for the next five minutes. If you start yelling before I’m gone, I’ll put a bullet in your head. Understand?”

  The guard nodded.

  Everett nodded to Courtney to walk out the door. Everett stuck the guard’s radio in his backpack and the two of them headed back down the stairs. Once they were out the door, Everett pulled the radio back out to turn up the volume then returned it to his pack. He and Courtney walked quickly in the direction of the river.

  Everett surveyed the street. Elijah, Kevin and Sarah were nowhere in sight. “They’ll probably go back to K Street to get back to the river. We’ll go up G, hit the river at the Watergate, and try to catch up with them at Washington Harbor.”

  Courtney looked nervous. “Okay. You know your way around better than me. I’m following you.”

  They kept moving fast. Soon, they’d passed the Watergate apartments and crossed Rock Creek Parkway. The foot path ran parallel to the parkway, which wasn’t optimal for not being spotted by a police officer who might still be looking for them. Suddenly, the radio in Everett’s pack sprang to life. “Denis, did you get your zone locked down? I need you back up front.”

  Everett paused to look at Courtney. “I’m betting they’ll be looking for Denis real soon. The clock is ticking.”

  “Then we better keep moving,” she said.

  Everett followed the pedestrian bridge across Rock Creek. “That’s Washington H
arbor. I would imagine most of the restaurants in the complex have reopened to service the global citizens of the great New Atlantis. It would be a good spot to blend in and watch to see if Elijah and the others might pass by.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  The radio sounded again. “Denis, can you read me?”

  “Boss, this is James.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “The police were looking for some fugitives earlier today, I . . .” The feed cut out.

  Everett stopped to take the radio out of his pack. He fiddled with the antenna and looked up at Courtney. “I think we’re out of range.”

  She pursed her lips. “We’ve heard all we need to hear. I’d say they’re about thirty seconds from calling NAPD.”

  Everett turned the radio off and tossed it over the bridge into Rock Creek which flowed into the Potomac. “Then we better move and trust that God will get the others back to the car safely.”

  She nodded in agreement.

  Everett looked in the other direction. “There’s a boat rental place on the left. Let’s see if we can cut a deal with someone.”

  “It’s bound to be closed,” she objected.

  “Even better, come on.” Everett moved quickly toward the docks. He soon spotted a worker who was rinsing the boats with a hose. “Hey! How’s business been?”

  The young man’s arms were covered with tattoos, his nose, ears and eyebrows were riddled with piercings, but he was quite cordial. “We just opened March 1st. It’s still too cold for people to be getting out on the water, but the boss said he’s expecting the best season ever. All these people moving to DC with the UN, or GR, or whatever they call it. And you’ve got all the construction workers coming in, they’ve got money. Things were tough all around during the crash, but we bounced right back. I feel bad for the people in the rest of the country, but I think this guy Luz is going to get it all put back together. He’s done a heck of a job here. He’s a little heavy handed with the cops, but people were killing each other over a can of soup. I’m sure he’ll lighten up when things get back to normal.”

  Everett hid his disappointment in the man’s deception. Things would never be normal again, and Luz would be tightening the screws at every turn, he’d never lighten up. Everett wanted to ask the man what he thought about the disappearances; what he thought about Christ, but he could see the telltale blemish on the back of the man’s hand where his Mark had been implanted. As Elijah had explained, once someone took the Mark and had renounced Christ, all hope was lost; their souls were damned.

  Everett had to make some more small talk, after all, he was getting ready to put in a big request. “Did you get any business today?”

  “Ha!” The man rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? It looked like it was going to be an absolutely beautiful day. We had a few people take out some kayaks late this morning, first warm day since winter. Then, out of nowhere, a massive storm rolled up. Thundering, lightening, but then it never rained, not one drop. But the clouds hung around and that was the end of it for us. I’ve been doing busy work all day, just finishing up. I’m rolling up the hose and heading over to the harbor for a beer and a bag of weed. It’s all legal now, if you can afford it.”

  “So you’re here by yourself?”

  “Yep, I get all the grunt work.”

  Everett pulled one of the gold American Eagles out of his pocket and handed it to the man. “Ever seen one of these?”

  “Yeah, yeah. That guy from 24, he was selling these. My grandmother used to watch Fox News all the time, and he’d be on there all the time saying, buy gold. He was always in a helicopter, or on his ranch or something, talking about inflation and financial crisis.” He tossed the coin gently in his hand as if to get a feel for the weight of it. “Huh. I guess he was right. I probably should have bought some. But I never really had much money. The only reason I ever paid attention to those commercials was because I liked 24 when I was a little kid. What’s this thing worth?”

  “It was over seven grand when they stopped valuing it in US dollars last November. Of course hyperinflation had already taken off at that point. But it was close to four thousand, even before the attacks.” Everett could see the man making calculations in his mind about what he could do with it. “That’s the new underground currency, gold and silver. Since Luz can track and tax every transaction with the Mark, people looking to do something outside of the system are using gold and silver coins.”

  The man nodded. “Yeah. My buddy gets some silver coins. He’s got one just like this, only silver. He’s also got some of the old quarters and dimes; they used to be silver. He uses them for . . . whatever.”

  Everett winked. “You can get a lot of . . . whatever with what you’ve got in your hand.”

  “Yeah, I bet.” The man tossed the coin. “It’s heavy. Is it pure gold?”

  “22 Karat. That’s a little better than 90 percent. They put some silver and copper in them so they don’t scratch so easily. Pure gold is super soft and it’ll dent if you drop it. Minted by the US government, which doesn’t exist anymore, so it’s a collector’s item on top of everything.”

  The guy looked up at Everett with untrusting eyes. “And you’re telling me all of this because?”

  “We’d like you to take us on a boat ride.” Everett could hear the sirens in the background.

  The man looked at the coin then at the boat house. “Hmm.”

  Courtney squeezed Everett’s arm and smiled at the man. “It’s a special night for us. It would be so romantic. Please?”

  The man looked at the coin again then looked back toward DC, in the direction of the sirens. He seemed to have made the connection.

  Everett waited to see the man’s reaction, and mentally rehearsed how he’d abduct and restrain him if he didn’t agree to the request. He focused on not showing his determination.

  “Romantic river cruise, huh?” The man stuck the coin in his pocket. “I don’t want to know anything else. If we get caught, I can’t get in much trouble as long as I don’t know anything. I don’t want to know your name; you don’t need to know mine. I’m just being a nice guy and taking you for an evening ride on the river. And, if you get caught, I did it out of the kindness of my heart, no mention of a coin, right?”

  Everett nodded.

  “And don’t try to pull anything on me. I’ve been around.” The man gave them both a very serious look.

  Everett held his hands in the air. “Your boat, your rules.”

  The man pointed toward one of the small power boats toward the middle of the dock. “Get in that one right there, and sit real low. The cops could be here any minute. I’m going to grab the keys and I’ll be right back.”

  Everett nodded and held Courtney’s hand as they made their way to the boat.

  She stepped off the dock and into the small boat. “Do you think he’ll turn us in?”

  “You’re the profiler, what do you think?”

  “No way. He wants that coin. And he doesn’t want to risk that we’ll say something about it if he turns us in. Plus, this ain’t his first rodeo.”

  “Then why are you asking me?”

  She shrugged as she positioned herself in the back. “I suppose I’m a little less confident about my skills when it’s our lives at stake.”

  He kissed her and put his arm around her. “You’ve still got it.”

  Seconds later, the man came jogging toward the dock. He tossed in a plastic bag. “I brought you some chips, soda and candy bars, in case you’re hungry.” He untied the rope securing the boat to the cleat on the dock and pushed off. He started the engine and asked, “Where to?”

  “Up the river, past the beltway bridge.” Everett took two sodas out of the bag, handed one to Courtney and opened the other. It had been months since he’d had a soda in a can. And it wasn’t likely that he’d have another anytime soon. He hated that the man’s soul was doomed for eternity and that it was too late for Everett to do anything about it.

 
POP! POP! POP! . . . Crack, crack. An exchange of gunfire could be heard nearby as the boat passed by Georgetown Waterfront Park.

  Everett looked at Courtney. “That’s them.”

  The man driving the boat shook his head as if he were wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

  Everett climbed up toward the front. “Any chance I could get you to slow down for a second and pull over?”

  Gunfire rang out again. The people on the waterfront began scattering in panic.

  “No way, bro. I didn’t sign up for all of this.”

  Everett held out another coin.

  The man glanced at the coin. He was less insistent, but he was still shaking his head. “This is too serious for me, man.”

  Everett pulled out yet another coin.

  “Seriously?” The man slowed down. He looked at the two coins for several seconds then finally took them from Everett, and stuck them in his pocket. “Listen, if we get caught, I’m going to say you told me you had a gun and that I had no choice.”

  “I completely understand. If we get caught, I’ll say I forced you, and threatened to kill you.” Everett was glad that the man was coming around.

  A long barrage of pops and cracks mixed with automatic gunfire rang out and it was obvious that it was coming from just ahead of them, on the other side of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Everett pointed forward. “Start making your way toward the bank once we get under the bridge. The man increased the speed to go under the bridge.

  Courtney pointed. “Look! There they are!”

  Sarah and Kevin were walking slowly, close together. Sarah seemed to be assisting Kevin as if he were injured. The boat was between the Bridge Boathouse and the Washington Canoe Club.

  Everett patted the man on the back. “Pull up next to the second dock.”

  The man did so.

  Courtney waved her hands, but Sarah didn’t see her.

  “Stay with the boat.” Everett said to Courtney as he leaped onto the dock. He got Sarah’s attention and ran to help her with Kevin who was bleeding badly from his torso. Everett wrapped his arm under Kevin’s armpit to help him to the boat. “Come on man, we’ve got a ride. You’ll be okay.”