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

by Goodwin,Mark

  The animals were fed, the car unloaded and the team was exhausted; all except for Kevin who said he wanted to stay up and read the Bible for a while before turning in. Elijah waved as he left in his truck, and Everett, Courtney and Sarah made their way to their respective sleeping quarters.

  Minutes later, Everett was fast asleep.

  CHAPTER 10

  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

  Proverbs 3:6

  Everett scratched his head as he woke from his deep hibernation. He tried to process why the sun wasn’t brighter. It felt as though he’d been out for several hours, it certainly couldn’t still be early morning. He stretched his arms and legs under the blanket. He was stiff from the mission, and very hungry.

  Courtney roused and rolled over to face him. “Hey.” She smiled with eyes half-open.

  “Good morning. It must be raining outside. The light is so dim, but it has to be way past sun up.”

  She giggled. “Yeah, the sun is going down silly. It’s like six o’clock.”

  “At night?”

  “Yes, it was almost five when we went to bed. You didn’t wake up to go to the bathroom that whole time?’

  “No. But I’ve gotta go now.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here.” Courtney rolled back over in the bed.

  Everett put on his sweats and a hoody and made his way down the ladder. He went out back to answer nature’s call and quickly returned. Kevin was sleeping on the couch, with Lisa’s old Bible open and turned face down on the coffee table. Everett thought about the familiar scene when it had been Ken sleeping on the couch and Lisa in the back bedroom. Now he had another set of sanctified lovebirds sleeping in separate rooms. He chuckled at the thought. “Here we go again,” he whispered.

  Kevin awoke at the sound of Everett building a fire to make some rice. “How did you sleep?”

  “Good, thanks.” Everett arranged the tinder and took out one of the homemade fire starters that Ken had made before he disappeared. It was a cotton ball which had been soaked in a bit of leftover candle wax. Once lit, just a small piece of the cotton ball would act as a wick, burning the wax for several minutes, which was plenty of time to get the tinder burning. Ken had made them for starting fires when all the tinder from outdoors was damp, but Everett was hungry and wanted to get the fire going as quickly as possible. Since there was no newspaper, and he didn’t want to take the time to go scrounge up dried leaves from outside, this was the method he chose to use. “Did you sleep?”

  “Yeah. I read the Bible until about 11:00 AM. I’ve been out since then.”

  “That’s great.” Everett blew on the tinder to get it burning faster.

  “I suppose you’ve figured out who the old man is, right?” Kevin sat up on the couch.

  Everett turned toward Kevin. “I know he’s a prophet. But I guess that’s stating the obvious.”

  “I read I and II Kings last night.”

  Everett nodded. “You know, he told me to read that, but I didn’t get around to it.”

  Kevin lifted his eyebrows. “You’re going to want to read that when you can. There was prophet in those books, his name was Elijah. Through the power of God, he brought some woman’s child back to life . . . just like me. He confronted the evil king back then. He prayed for a drought and it came. When it was his time to go, he was taken away in a chariot of fire. He never died.”

  Everett remembered the curious explanation Elijah had given him when he’d asked why he hadn’t disappeared with the rest of the Christians. “Hmm. So, you think he’s the same guy?”

  Kevin nodded. “Then I read Revelation, to get an idea of what to expect next. Did you know it says there will be two witnesses? And they have power to make it not rain, turn water to blood and release plagues on the earth.”

  Everett listened closely. “He said something about his mission being to bear witness against the evil of the earth. I didn’t know what he was talking about. And he told me there was someone else.”

  “So that’s him, right?”

  Everett nodded. “I guess so. What else did it say about him?”

  “It said he’ll wear sackcloth; what’s that shirt he wore to DC made out of?”

  Everett shrugged. “I don’t know. It looked like burlap. Believe me, of all the crazy stuff he’s said and done, that shirt doesn’t even rank in the top 100. I didn’t think to ask him about it.”

  “But it could be sackcloth, right?”

  “I suppose. I can’t say as I’m not that well acquainted with the material.” Everett stood up from the hearth to retrieve the water for his rice. He returned and placed the pot on the cooking grate.

  Kevin was reading from the Bible. “It also says he’s going to be killed then come back to life in three days.”

  Everett’s heart sank. Resurrection or not, he’d grown fond of the old man and did not want to see him suffer. “Does it say how he’ll die?”

  Kevin looked over the page. “No. It just says the beast will kill them, and the whole world will see their bodies lying in the street for three and a half days. Then they’ll come back to life and ascend into heaven.”

  “Does it say where all this is going to happen?”

  “It says where our Lord was crucified. So Jerusalem, I guess.”

  “Yeah, he said he’d have to go there eventually.” Everett was saddened by the thought of Elijah leaving.

  Courtney came down the ladder and into the living room. She hugged Everett and looked at Kevin. “Hey, how’d you sleep?”

  “Like the dead.” Kevin winked.

  “That’s not even a little bit funny.” Courtney tried to keep a straight face. “Okay, maybe a little, but I wouldn’t try that joke on Sarah. She might send you right back.”

  She lifted the lid from the pot in the fireplace. “Rice?”

  “Yeah. I thought I’d make a big pot. I want a bowl with a little sugar for now. Then I figured we could eat it with some smoked venison later,” Everett said.

  “Sounds good.” Kevin reclined back on the couch. “What are your thoughts on hitting that census station up in Winchester?”

  Courtney’s mouth hung open. “Seriously? Boy! You’re in a hurry to get killed again aren’t you?”

  “Not really, but I’m not afraid. I know I’m not going back to where I was. I don’t know what heaven is like, but the simple fact that it ain’t that place makes it good enough for me.”

  Everett looked at Kevin for a while, wondering if the man was brave or fool-hearty. “I don’t know, Kevin. I’m pretty busted from that last mission. We’ve only got four more days of amnesty. We still need to get the rest of these supplies to the cave.”

  “We can get theses supplies moved in one day.”

  Everett pursed his lips. “We don’t even have a plan. We did one quick drive by.”

  Kevin sat up and leaned forward on the couch. “Can’t you get back in the comms satellite to get the delivery schedule for the facility? We really just need to know when a supply truck is coming in so we can hit it.”

  “I really doubt it. Passwords have been replaced with bio-authentication which is done through an individual’s Mark. And even if I could create a workaround for the bio-authentication, which I can’t; Dragon is up and running. You’re talking about hacking into a system that is self-aware. It could literally triangulate the location of a hacker then locate and destroy him via drone. The only reason we got out of DC was because of the low hanging clouds, which prevented the drones from spotting us.”

  “Then we work around the technology. We go old school, human intelligence.”

  Everett rolled his eyes. “Ha! How, pray tell, do you recommend we do that?”

  Kevin held his hands palms up. “We go hang around some bars, or wherever the truck drivers and guards are hanging out.”

  “We’ve got no Marks. We can’t even buy a soda pop in a bar.”

  “We’ve got stuff to trade. There’s an underground economy in Winchester.
Guns are illegal and this is good-ol-boy country. I guarantee there’s a well-established network of black market arms and ammo dealers. Come on, Everett, you’re an intelligence analyst. You should be telling me this stuff.”

  Everett crossed his arms. It was one thing to know what to do, and quite another to know if it should be done. “Let’s focus on getting the rest of these buckets out to the cave, and then see how much time we’ve got left.”

  Kevin nodded. “Great. We can get that knocked out tomorrow then we can go into Winchester on Friday to feel out the temperature around town. If it’s too hot, we’ll melt away and never come back.”

  Courtney shook her head. “We’ve got to get the garden going. The mountains have a really short growing season. I don’t want to miss it. A few fresh vegetables can make a world of difference in extending our stored food and putting some better nutrition into our diet.”

  “Then Everett and I will go into Winchester on Friday, while you and Sarah get started on the garden.”

  The man with all the answers. Everett adjusted the pot on the cooking grate so the rice wouldn’t boil over. He was not looking forward to another adventure.

  The sun was down soon after they’d all gotten up, so there wasn’t much that could be accomplished. When Sarah finally woke up, the four of them played cards until it was time to go back to bed.

  Thursday’s job of moving supplies progressed quite efficiently and much quicker than their first trip out to the cave. The team had developed something of a system for lugging the buckets from the trucks, to the cave, through the cavern, and up the ladder, into the long narrow storage corridor. Everett was glad to have moved the excess supplies out of the living room, both because he hated the state of disarray in the cabin, and because he understood the value in having their supplies diversified. He’d been able to deal with the last bunch of looters that had come to the cabin, but there were no guarantees that he’d have the same success in the future. In addition to the food, Kevin had brought a small arsenal of weapons and ammunition to the cave for safe keeping. They’d also taken some extra clothing to the cave. Some of it had been Ken and Lisa’s. Not only would it be there for an emergency, but Kevin and Sarah needed the space.

  Kevin gave Everett’s shoulder a squeeze. “Look at that. We’re finished before sunset. We’ll be rested up and as right as rain to go to Winchester tomorrow.”

  Everett half grinned. “Lucky me.”

  Once again, the tiring day’s work insured Everett and the rest a good night’s sleep.

  Everett was up early Friday morning, as was everyone else in the house. The girls would be working on the garden, while he and Kevin were heading to Winchester to see how much trouble they could get into, at least, that’s the way Everett saw it.

  They all had breakfast together. And since it was to be a long day for everyone, they had a huge breakfast. Grits, eggs, pancakes, and smoked venison, which lent itself to the morning meal.

  Everett cut into a stack of pancakes, piled three high on his plate. “Lots of carbs and protein, exactly what we need.”

  “Your butt is going to be sitting in a car all day, we’re the ones who’ll be working.” Courtney chided.

  Everett wasn’t amused. “I doubt that. We’ll be walking around, looking for mischief, which could very well end up in running for our lives. Just like DC.”

  Courtney’s face grew more somber. “I know. I was trying to lighten the mood. You be safe. And if it looks sketchy, you guys get out of there. Promise me you won’t take any unnecessary chances, Kevin!”

  Kevin finished a bite of grits and took a swig of coffee. “Cross my heart.”

  Sarah looked concerned as well. “Yes, please don’t put me through that again, Kevin. I really don’t think I can handle a repeat.”

  Everett saw no point in belaboring the issue, so he changed the subject. “Silver and gold coins seem to have emerged as the predominant black market currency. The guy in DC with the boat knew all about silver coins, and didn’t need much convincing to believe gold trumped the white metal. We’ve got a little of each.”

  “Our team had a king’s ransom in silver and gold coins, but they spent most of them on the mountain retreat. But we’ve still got a few coins left.” Kevin cut into his smoked venison.

  “Obviously, the reason you’re going to Winchester is to try and secure two more years’ worth of storable food, so you won’t be offering any of that for barter. If no one is interested in coins, what’s your back-up plan?” Courtney looked at Kevin.

  He answered, “We brought enough guns and ammo out here to start a war. Most of our group worked for the Sevier County Sheriff’s Department or were prior military.”

  “Or both.” Sarah crossed her arms.

  Kevin leaned over to kiss her. “Or both. Anyway, that adds up to lots of battle rifles, pistols, shotguns and ammo. We could let go of a few firearms and still have more than we could ever shoot. We stashed four AR-15s, four 9mm Glocks, four shotguns and ammo for all of them in the cave yesterday.”

  Courtney rubbed her head as if she were thinking. “We got hit on the day of the disappearances. Aren’t you worried you could be arming people who could end up attacking us?”

  Kevin shook his head. “Winchester is a pretty long drive from here. I’d say the odds of someone from there assaulting us are pretty slim. The amnesty period expires on Monday. After that, traveling with firearms is going to get increasingly risky. A potential hostile would be taking a big chance to move firearms that distance, only to come up here on the mountain to shoot it out with us.

  “Most of the people looking for weapons at this point are going to be causing problems for the Global Republic, and that’s exactly the people I’d like to see have our extra guns. So, If I can use them to trade for information, I’d say it’s a good deal.”

  Everett considered Kevin’s reasoning. “Yeah, that makes sense. I agree with your plan. But we’ve got two more days besides today before the amnesty expires. I think we should just take a couple spare weapons for trade. We can sniff around town, and if we see the need for more guns, we’ll make another trip.”

  “I can go along with that.” Kevin smiled.

  “What vehicle are you taking?” Courtney asked.

  Everett looked at Kevin. “I recommend we take the F-150. A truck will blend in better in Winchester. But you don’t want to drive the green truck, with government insignia on it.”

  “The F-150 is going to burn a lot more gas than the Camaro or the BMW. Plus, you’ve got no trunk to hide weapons,” Sarah commented.

  “The back seat flips up. We can get some guns and ammo under there,” Kevin said.

  Courtney echoed Sarah’s concerns. “And your gear. You guys are taking packs with food and water, right? Are you going to leave those sitting out in the seats while you’re walking around?”

  Everett thought about the conundrum. “We’ll put our gear in the floor of the backseat. The windows are tinted. No one can see in the back floorboard unless they’re pressing their head up against the glass. We’ll try to stay close to the vehicle at all times.”

  Kevin put his hand on Sarah’s leg. “Would you let Everett take your Glock?”

  “My 18C clone? That’s asking a lot.”

  Kevin winked. “It increases my chances of coming home.”

  She got up and went to the back bedroom. She returned with the ordinary looking pistol and several 33-round magazines. She handed Everett the gun, pointing to a lever on the back of the slide. “Here’s your select fire. It’s set for full auto, because if you need it in a hurry, that’s where you want it. If you need it for single fire, you’ll probably have time to hit the lever. Bring my gun back! Even if you need to leave Kevin.”

  “Ha, ha! You’re a real riot.” Kevin gave her a sarcastic smile.

  Everett took the pistol. “I’ll take good care of them both.”

  Sarah sat in Kevin’s lap and put her arms around his neck. “Even better.”

&nb
sp; Courtney reached across the table to put her hand on Everett’s arm. “How are we going to know if you get in trouble?”

  Kevin answered, “We’ve got radios. We’d be able to receive anything you girls transmit over the ham, but we won’t have enough juice to transmit all the way back here, unless we’re already on our way back up the mountain.”

  “That doesn’t do us much good.” Courtney wrinkled her forehead.

  Everett thought for a while. “Maybe if we could reach a local ham, we could have them relay a message to you, so if we’re not back by dark, keep the ham turned on and listen. I know the frequency it’s set at right now, so don’t change it.”

  Sarah lifted her eyebrows. “It’s better than nothing.”

  Once breakfast was finished, Everett and Kevin loaded up the F-150 with the supplies they’d be taking along with a few silver coins, three pistols that had come from the sheriff’s evidence room, two shotguns, and an AR-15 for potential barter items.

  Elijah pulled into the drive, just as they were about to leave. He stepped out of his truck. “You boys are running off and leaving me here to work the land with the women, are you?”

  Everett chuckled. “We’ve only got three days til the amnesty period ends. We have to strike while the iron is hot.”

  “Yes, yes, I know. But come, let me pray for you. Let us ask God to watch over you and bring you home safely.”

  Everett wasn’t about to question the value of a prayer of protection from Elijah. And he was certain that Kevin needed no further convincing either. He walked over and took the old man’s outstretched hand. Kevin took the other.