The Days of Noah, Book Two: Persecution
Page 26
“That would be great,” Isaiah called out from the living room.
The two men ate, and then geared up to go to David’s. Shortly after they arrived, the team ran the final drill. After having done it over and over that morning, the final round of training went without a hitch.
Jim and Elliot each drove to the drill in vehicles they’d borrowed from the police impound lot. Jim drove a white work van, and Elliot was in a small pickup. Either one could be used to evacuate the entire eight-member team if one of the vehicles broke down.
At 4:00 AM, David gave a quick speech. “Everyone did a great job in training today. Unfortunately, most missions never go as planned. You have to adapt to the situation and overcome the obstacles when anything comes up that challenges the operation. You’re all smart. I know you can do it. When we’re finished, we’ll come back here, assuming we’re not pursued. Jim and Elliot will return the vehicles to the impound lot and then come back to the house. We’ll lock and load and see if we get any company.
“Isaiah, if you’d like to ask God to watch over us and grant us victory, I’d appreciate it.”
The men all sat their rifles next to the van and bowed their heads. Isaiah prayed. “Lord, the apostle Paul told his young protégé, Timothy, that in the last days, people would be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, unholy, brutal, treacherous, and unforgiving. It sounds like he was reading our headlines. You told your disciples that, in the last days, we would be imprisoned and persecuted for your name’s sake. We take heart, even in these wretched signs, because we know the day of your coming is near. We pray that you will grant us courage to stand against the enemy until that great and glorious day when you call us home. We pray for victory in this mission and protection over each one of us. I ask that you would bring all of us home safely, but if that is not your will, I pray you will comfort those left behind. Into your hands, we commit our spirits. Amen.”
The team loaded into the vehicles. Elliot drove the pickup with Sarah and Kevin as passengers. He would drop them off roughly a half-mile north of the landing site to retrieve the tug and barge from the construction company.
Jim drove the van with Noah, Isaiah, Benny, and David. They cut the headlights before they arrived at the river bank. Everyone rolled out, and each team member pulled one of the metal Jon boats out of the tree line along the bank. They waited until they saw the tug push the barge against the other bank and pushed off using a single oar each to cross the river. All the Jon boats had small motors to use on the return trip, when noise discipline wouldn’t be such an important factor.
Quietly and smoothly, Jim and Isaiah carried the ladder to the water treatment building. Benny hooked up the power supply to his transmitter for the jamming signal from behind the cover of the building and ascended the ladder behind Jim, Isaiah, and Elliot.
David and Noah retrieved their bolt cutters from their assault packs and turned the safety off their rifles, which hung in front of them by single point slings over tactical vests filled with extra magazines.
Noah leaned against the wall of the water treatment building and looked at David. “You ready?”
David smiled, revealing his white teeth, which contrasted against the dark camo face paint. “Not really. Are you?”
Noah grinned and shook his head. “But I feel better knowing I’m not alone. Where’s the train?”
David shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but no train, no assault.”
Noah leaned back up against the wall and looked at the stars in the clear black sky. Sunrise was still more than two hours away. It was cold outside, just above freezing, but Noah’s adrenaline was acting as an anesthetic and keeping him from feeling the chill.
Noah thought he could hear something in the distance. Could it be the train? He held his breath to listen closer. Seconds later it was more pronounced; the steady drum of the engine coming down the track. He looked at David, who nodded and drew his pistol. Noah did the same. They trained to approach the fence with the bolt cutters in their left hand and a pistol in their right. This would provide some possibility of defensive fire if needed. If they came under heavy fire and had to drop the cutters, they could quickly holster the pistol and bring the rifles up to a firing position.
The train became louder and louder as it approached. Noah wondered if Sarah and Kevin had been successful in removing the two lengths of track. He wondered if the train engineer would see the sign instructing him to jump and if the engineer would believe the sign if he did see it.
Suddenly, the sound of the breaks being thrown on a moving train began to screech through the darkness. Noah looked at David with eyes wide open.
David no longer needed to worry about whispering, as the sound of the breaks were deafening. “I guess he saw the sign.”
Noah nodded. The sign was a courtesy, allowing the engineer time to jump, but it was far too late for him to stop the train.
The engine hit the missing section of track and careened off the rails and into the adjacent grass. The kinetic energy of the two-miles of moving rail cars behind it swiftly pushed the engine into Third Creek, which ran into the Tennessee River. The sound of the rail cars flying off the tracks and folding into one another like a giant accordion made the loudest, most horrendous sound Noah Parker had ever heard in his life. He stuck his head around the corner and gaped at the unfolding catastrophe. He observed rail cars being pitched like toys off the ground and others scraping along the metal tracks, shooting sparks like fireworks several feet into the air. He nearly froze from the mere shock of the spectacle.
David slapped Noah on the shoulder and yelled loudly enough to be heard over the screeching symphony of crashing metal against metal, “Go!”
Thank you for reading
The Days of Noah, Book Two: Persecution.
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The Days of Noah, Book Three: Perdition is available!
You may also like my first fiction series, The Economic Collapse Chronicles, available on Amazon.com. In the first book of the series, American Exit Strategy, America is on the cusp of financial annihilation. Matt and Karen Bair face the challenges of Main Street during a full-scale financial meltdown. Government borrowing and monetary creation have reached their limits. When funds are no longer available for government programs, widespread civil unrest erupts across the country. Matt and Karen are forced to move to a more remote location, and their level of preparedness is revealed as being much less adequate than they believed prior to the crisis.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
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