by Mark Goodwin
David put his hand on Noah’s back. “We have to maintain an eternal perspective. I know we’ve heard Pastor Mike say that a thousand times in church, but now the rubber meets the road. This is where we find out if we really believe this book. All these men are looking to you for spiritual guidance. You have to decide how much you believe these words.”
Noah just wanted the lump in his throat to go away. He hadn’t expected such an exhortation from David, but he certainly appreciated it. “You’re right. Do I really believe, or have I been playing church?” Noah took a deep breath. “I’m all in. And I understand your reasoning behind suicide. I just hope it never comes to that.”
“Me, too.” David gave Noah a hug. “I’m all in as well. So whatever happens, we’ll go through it together.”
Noah forced a smile. “Thanks. That means a lot. I know Jesus is always with me, but it’s great to have someone you can touch and see.”
“We can keep each other encouraged. Sometimes I need to be reminded to keep my eyes on Jesus, too. So if you see me getting too dark, feel free to give me a little pep talk.”
Noah peered out into the darkness. “I will.”
David stood up. “I’ll take first patrol. If I’m not back in five, wake a couple of guys up and come find out why.”
Noah nodded. After David walked out the door, Noah whispered a prayer. “Oh God, I’m so afraid. I’m afraid for Lacy, Cassie, the other families, and myself. I know I shouldn’t be. I should trust you, but I don’t see any way out of this. Please grant me courage and strength and wisdom to know what to do. And please help my unbelief. Grant me the faith to trust you more.” A sense of peace came over Noah as he prayed. Not that he would get through everything unscathed, but that God would bring him through to the other side.
Noah checked his watch. “Four minutes.” He looked closely out the window to look for David. He was relieved to see him come around the corner and up the stairs.
David came in and closed the door. “Cold out there. But it does a lot to clear your head. I think we need to work our way back to the cabin. We’ll have to watch out for GR checkpoints and patrols, but even if we have to move through the woods, we can make it back. We need to be there if we have to make a stand.”
“Couldn’t we bring the girls out here?”
David shook his head. “We’d never be able to reposition all of our supplies. Besides, the upper echelon of the Republic military will probably take over this park for housing. The weather will be getting nicer soon, and this place will be on more people’s radar.”
“What happens to the girls if we’re killed? The Global Republic will lock up Becky and Cassie. They’ll probably take Lacy and Lynette to a re-education camp.”
“All in?”
Noah studied the grains in the wooden floor. “All in. I’ll trust God with my girls.”
David patted him on the arm. “It’s not so hard to trust him with your own life, but your girls, now that’s real faith.”
The next morning, Noah awoke from a deep sleep to the horrid reality that he and his family were being hunted down like criminals. The sense of dread and doom filled his mind, and his heart began to race. “God, give me strength. You are my rock and my refuge.” He made a conscious effort to change his thoughts from fear to faith. It wasn’t easy.
David gave him a nudge. “I’ve got some instant coffee waiting for you if you give me a hand coming up with a plan to get back to the cabin. It’s cold, but it’s coffee.”
“I’ll take it.” Noah got up and followed David into the kitchen where a map was spread out on the table.
David handed his canteen to Noah. “We don’t have much gas left, so we can’t take too much of a detour. As long as the Republic doesn’t have checkpoints or troops in Sweetwater, I think we’ll be okay. We’ll still have to get through Vonore, but I highly doubt the GR has even heard of that town yet.”
Noah took a sip from the canteen. It was a stretch to call the concoction inside coffee, but it had caffeine. “Have you talked to the other guys?”
“Yeah. Danny and Jerry have family in Sevierville. They want to go back.”
Noah couldn’t imagine being in their shoes right now. “But they’ll just get themselves killed or captured. That won’t help their families.”
David put a hand in the air. “Brother, you’re preaching to the choir. What am I supposed to do? I can’t lie to them. Barring a miracle, we’re going out to the cabin to die anyway. I can’t hold them against their will. I have to honor their wish to get home or die trying.”
“You’re going to give them a truck?”
“I have to.”
“Then we’ll be eight people in one truck going to the cabin. How will we manage that?”
“Sean and Aiden are still asleep. They had last watch. They may want to go back with Jerry and Danny. If not, two guys can lay down in the back under covers. We’ll switch every twenty miles so no one freezes. We can manage.”
Noah despised the Global Republic. “I can’t believe it’s come to this. But I guess it’s the best plan we’ve got.”
David shrugged. “I wish we had more options, but seems like we’re down to making a stand at the cabin or trying to live in the woods and letting the elements get us. If we make a stand, at least we take a few of them with us.
“Tell the other guys to get their gear ready to go. I’ll go wake Sean and Aiden.”
Noah nodded. How did this happened in America? he thought. I know how; it’s just like Cassie has said from the beginning. Americans were distracted by the bread and circuses of our age: food stamps, American Idol, The Bachelorette, and seeker-friendly churches. While we were sleeping, the evil crept in and slowly, systematically destroyed our society. The Federal Reserve destroyed our money; the Supreme Court took prayer and the Bible out of schools; they declared the murder of America’s most vulnerable unborn citizens legal and poked their finger in the eye of God by holding themselves up as gods and usurping what God had said about marriage. The atheists converted our children to the religion of atheism through the teaching of evolution in schools. And the church sat silently by. Noah looked down at the pistol on the side of his belt. Well, now we’ll fight. Now that it is all over—our country, our freedom, and our government are gone—now we fight. And for what? For an honorable death. That’s the most we can hope for at this point.
Sean and Aiden elected to go back to Sevierville with Jerry and Danny. David gave them the TWRA truck; split up the MRE’s, grenades, and ammo; and wished them well. The two groups said their goodbyes, and both were soon on their way.
David drove with Sarah in the middle, Kevin riding shotgun, and Noah, Cliff, and Elliot in the back. He slowed down when they were about ten miles out of Sweetwater. “If we hit a roadblock, I’m going to turn around and high-tail it out of there. We can’t take out a checkpoint. They’d have choppers and reinforcements on top of us in no time. We’ll ditch the truck and try to work our way back, in twos, to the cabin. Just head west until you get to the river. Do whatever you have to do to get across. Borrow a boat or whatever. Then follow the river bank southeast till you hit Happy Valley Road. Then it’s just a few miles to Abram’s Creek and your home. Stay inside the tree line no matter how much it slows you down.”
They all acknowledged that they understood. As they passed through Sweetwater, all were on high alert, but they saw nothing. David continued driving through Vonore with no resistance. “Looks like we’re going to make it. If we get home and we’ve got company, we need to decide now what we’re going to do.”
Sarah was the first to respond. “Fight to the death. What else?”
After that passionate response, none of the men could very well recommend any other course of action. They all agreed.
Fifteen minutes after they passed Vonore, they pulled into the drive.
Noah looked carefully to see if he recognized anything different or anything that might be a sign that GR troops had been there. He slowly exited t
he vehicle as did the others.
Cassie and Becky both came out the front door waving and smiling ear to ear.
Noah didn’t have the heart to tell her what was happening. “My beautiful wife. It’s so good to see you.”
She hugged him tight. “I missed you so much.”
Caroline Rodgers and Sandy Taylor were next to come outside.
Sandy looked curious. “Where’s Jim?”
Noah knew the warm homecoming wouldn’t last. He looked over at David, who was hugging Becky.
David’s expression didn’t hide what he was about to say.
Before he said a word, Sandy put her hand over her mouth as she muttered, “No!” and sat down on the cold ground.
Noah and Cassie went to her to comfort her.
“As far as we know, Jim is still alive.” David continued to give an abbreviated account of what had happened and what they should expect.
Soon, no one looked much happier than Sandy, who was completely grief stricken by this time.
Cassie held Noah tight and whispered in his ear. “Do you think David is right? You think they’ll break Jim and he’ll tell where we’re at?”
Noah kept his arms around her. “We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” He knew it was a terribly cliché thing to say at such a time, but it was the deafening reality of their present circumstance.
That evening after dinner, David addressed the adults and assigned specific tasks to each individual. He brought everyone up to speed on what was happening and what they should expect. Toward the end of his short speech, he said, “Ladies, I know some of you are more comfortable with firearms than others. Unfortunately, the time has come where we don’t have the luxury of accommodating those various comfort levels. Sarah is going to start drilling with the girls to bring you all up to combat-level proficiency. I appreciate your cooperation.”
Noah looked at Cassie. She’d wanted to get in the fight for a while. Even though these were the worst possible set of circumstances, he knew she would embrace the training. He glanced at Becky, who was nodding with her lips pressed tight together. She’s ready, too, he thought.
Sandy’s eyes were red. She’d been crying over Jim since she heard the news of his abduction. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’m not afraid. They’ve already taken everything they can take from me.”
Sharon put her arm around Sandy. “Me, too.”
Noah was a bit surprised at Sharon’s response. She had changed a lot over the course of the past few months. But then again, they all had. He looked over at Caroline Rodgers, who was holding Elliot’s hand tightly. She didn’t voice her eagerness to get ready to fight, but neither did she object.
Noah took Cassie’s hand. “Can we go around the room and offer up a prayer? Let’s ask for guidance, protection, peace, and, above all, let’s ask God to comfort Jim and Benny, wherever they are. I’ll lead; then whoever is ready can follow. It doesn’t need to be in any particular order.”
Noah started the prayer, and the group spent the next hour seeking help from the hand of God.
The next morning, Noah stood out on the upstairs porch, looking down over the drive that led out to the road. The trees were bare, which made it easy to see up the road to the first turn. In a few weeks, the trees would be budding. The warmer air would be a welcome respite from the cold, but if they were still alive, it would be harder to monitor the avenues of approach. He put his binoculars to his eyes to see if he could detect any motion in the distance.
The door opened behind him, and Lacy came out onto the porch. “What are you looking for?”
He turned and smiled. “Just making sure we’re safe.”
“What’s Mommy doing?”
“She’s training with Sarah and the other ladies.”
“Training for what?”
Noah did not want to have this conversation. He wished for a moment that she wasn’t quite so smart. Cassie had pushed her through their homeschool curriculum in hopes of getting her to learn as much as possible before homeschooling was banned altogether. The effect was a child with a very well developed mind, who wasn’t easily bamboozled. “They’re training to shoot and move.”
“Are the mean people coming up here to the wood house?”
Noah’s heart melted. He thought it was so cute how Lacy called the cabin “the wood house.” He knelt down, leaned his rifle against the rail and hugged his little girl. “I hope not. But it’s best to be ready, just in case. No matter what happens, always remember that Mommy and Daddy love you. Remember that wherever you are, Jesus is with you, and you can always talk to him or ask him for help. And remember that anyone who tells you that Jesus isn’t real is a liar. Even if bad things happen, you and me and Mommy are all going to be in heaven, together.”
“And Buster?”
“Yes, and Buster.”
“Okay.”
Noah just held her for a while as the tears ran down his cheeks. The thought of leaving her was more than he could bear. Once again, he heard the voice from within him reciting scripture. It started as a whisper, just as it had done during the raid on the detention center. Noah recognized the scripture from Revelation 21.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’ ”
An overwhelming sense of peace washed over Noah as he held his little girl. The tears of sorrow were suddenly replaced by tears of joy. The anxiety, the worry, and the pain that had hung above his head like a guillotine over the past months melted into nothingness.
“Daddy, what’s that sound?”
Noah wiped the tears from his eyes. “What sound, honey?”
“It sounds like a horn.”
“You mean like a car horn?”
“No, like a music horn.”
Noah listened quietly. Then, he heard it. It was like a trumpet in the distance. It grew louder. He looked around to try to locate the source. It seemed to be coming from the sky. “That’s not a trumpet,” he muttered as he looked up toward heaven. “It’s a shofar.”
Bright white light cascaded from above as Noah stared into it. It was brighter than the sun, but somehow it didn’t hurt his eyes. Then, they were gone.
CHAPTER 16
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Matthew 24:37-44
Everett lay back on the couch and sighed. “I feel like being bad.”
Courtney smiled. “What
do you mean?”
“I’m going to break the ration protocol and make another pot of coffee. Besides, maybe the smell will wake Ken and Lisa up. They never sleep this late.”
Courtney furrowed her brow. “I know. I’m getting a little worried about them. Do you think I should check on them?”
“Let them sleep.”
“They’ve been sleeping. It’s bad enough that they stay up all night keeping watch. If they sleep all day, they’ll get seasonal depression disorder. They need to at least see the sun for a couple of hours a day.” Courtney jumped up from the couch.
“People in Alaska don’t see the sun for weeks sometimes. Spring is right around the corner. They made it this long; they’ll be okay. Leave them alone.”
Courtney turned and winked. “What if they’re dead? Are you just going to leave them in there until they start stinking?”
Everett couldn’t help but laugh at her macabre humor. “They’re not dead!”
Courtney knocked on the door. “Lisa, Ken, can I come in?”
Everett listened for an answer. None came.
Courtney knocked a little harder and spoke a little louder. “Lisa, Ken, are you awake?”
A silly thought crossed Everett’s mind. What if they are dead? He got up from the couch and walked to the bedroom door. “Ken, bro, wake up.”
Still no answer. Everett turned the knob and opened the door. “They’re not here.”
Courtney looked in to confirm. “Do you think they went up to Elijah’s?”
Everett walked into the room and pulled up the blinds to let some light in. “Why is the bed messed up? Lisa always makes the bed. Look, Ken’s boots are here, and his coat is still hanging on the back of the chair. You think he hiked up the mountain in a pair of sneakers and a windbreaker? Not in this weather.”