by Mark Goodwin
Everett and Courtney loaded their remaining supplies into the Typhoon.
Courtney paused to look up at the sky. “I’ve never seen the Aurora Borealis before.”
The remnants of daylight vanished behind the mountains, revealing ribbons of emerald green light floating in the night sky like the wake of a glowing phantom. Everett had never witnessed the phenomenon either. He stared up at the glowing bands above him. For a moment, he forgot about the mission at hand, about the trouble that waited for him just up the road, and about the remaining hardships he’d have to endure to make it through these final days.
Tobias patted him on the shoulder. “Come on, the entire convoy is waiting on you. If this CME is as bad as it’s supposed to be, you’ll be able to look at those lights for our entire trip.”
Everett kept his eyes on the sky as he stepped into the cab and closed the driver’s side door. “Even with all the stuff I’ve been a witness to in the Great Tribulation, all the things the prophets couldn’t even describe, I’ve never seen anything as magnificent as this.”
Everett continued to look at the spectacle of the Aurora Borealis as he started the engine. Even though the lights would be above him for the entire trip, his mind would have to focus on the conflict around the corner. Once they left Batumi, he’d have to think about killing and dying; his mind would be marred by death, haunted by violence. There’d be little room left for the stunning beauty of God’s creation.
CHAPTER 12
Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Psalm 138:6-8
Everett led the convoy along the coastal route as far as possible. Both because the four-lane highway allowed the caravan of nearly 30 thousand vehicles to flow more steadily, and because it avoided many of the radical Islamic strongholds in the interior of the country. Of course, this choice took them directly through Rize, the city where they’d been ambushed only two weeks earlier, but the band of petty criminals that pulled off the heist wouldn’t stand a chance against the heavily-armed motorcade of Israeli expatriates.
The convoy progressed under the cascading luminescence of the aurora all the way to the seaside town of Trabzon without incident. From there, Everett turned southwest, leading the Jews away from the Black Sea through the mountains. The highway from Trabzon was also a four-lane road in moderate repair. Since there was very little oncoming traffic, the caravan used both the north and southbound lanes for their journey, forcing the occasional passing vehicle to drive on the shoulder until the colossal motorcade had passed by.
Nine hours into the journey, Everett pulled to the side of the road, halting the front end of the motorcade to give the rear a chance to catch up. Everett addressed all of the security personnel in the Typhoon with them. “We’ll wait for thirty minutes. That will give everyone in the caravan a chance to move around or do what they need to do. Then, we’ve only got another twenty minutes of drive time before we hit Imranli.”
Courtney swung her door open. “Great. I’m going to stretch my legs.”
Ali opened the rear door. “Me, too.”
Tobias, Levi, and the other three former IDF soldiers also got out of the vehicle.
Everett addressed the female IDF soldier riding with them in the Typhoon. “Tonya, why don’t you and Courtney stay together. I’d rather no one get off by themselves. You never know who might be lurking out here in the countryside.”
“Yes, sir.” Tonya saluted him, even though there was no formal military organization, ranks, or any other requirement to do so.
Everett walked back to speak with the driver of the Typhoon behind his. “Tell everyone to do a last-minute weapons check. We’ll be rolling into enemy territory when we leave here. Inform all of your men, then have them pass it on to the vehicle behind them and so on.”
“Sure thing.” The driver also gave Everett a salute.
“Thank you.” Everett patted him on the shoulder and returned to his vehicle. He checked the time on his watch and started the vehicle precisely thirty minutes after they’d stopped. They had less than an hour before sunrise, and Everett was determined to hit Imranli before daylight.
An old gas station which showed signs of it being used as a trading post in the absence of regular fuel supplies stood as a testament to the changes the planet had undergone over the previous seven years. Everett watched the structure closely for movement as they passed. He saw no one there nor in the next two farmhouses he passed. They reached the edge of the village where houses were closer together. Everett watched the windows as light appeared inside the various dwellings.
“They know we’re here,” he announced to his team in the vehicle. “Be ready for anything.”
Pow! TINK! The sound of the first rifle round striking the side of the heavily armored Typhoon rang inside the vehicle. Everett pulled to the shoulder of the road, allowing the MRAPs behind him to take positions further up the road. “I saw a muzzle flash from that two-story house with the rusted tin roof. Levi, can you take it out with an RPG?”
“Yes, sir.” Levi unlocked the hatch on the roof.
Everett turned to face his crew. “Tobias, can you give him some cover fire with the fifty?”
“I’m on it.” Tobias let out a volley of rounds via the remote-controlled turret sitting atop the Typhoon.
SHOOWF! The RPG flew straight and level into the upstairs window of the house. BOOM! It exploded inside lifting three sheets of the flimsy metal roof from the house.
The next wave of hostile fire came from an apartment building seventy-five yards up the road on the left. “Everyone hang on, I’m going to take it to these guys. Tobias, you want to let them know we’re here?”
“Roger.” Tobias began peppering the building with fifty-caliber rounds while Everett brought the vehicle in closer.
More small-arms fire came from the right, and the MRAP behind Everett’s addressed the threat with additional RPGs.
Everett glanced at the radio. “It would be nice to have communications with the rest of our team so we’d know what’s going on behind us.”
Courtney watched her rearview. “The enemy doesn’t have comms either. At least it’s a level playing field. I saw a vehicle leave one of the houses back there. Looks like he’s heading west.”
“He’s probably going for back up. We’ll try to catch him before that happens.” Everett turned to Levi. “Can you pop out of the hatch and motion for the MRAP behind us to follow me?”
“Yep.”
“And don’t spend any more time out there than you have to.” Everett put the truck in gear and began rolling toward the vehicle Courtney had spotted.
The hatch door slammed behind Levi. “Unit two saw me. They’re on our tail.”
“Good.” Everett kept up with the small pickup truck racing west on the side road which ran parallel to the main highway.
“I bet he’s heading to that mosque up ahead. He’ll probably use the minaret to put out a call to arms.” Courtney pointed straight in front of the vehicle.
“I can cancel that plan if you want,” Levi said.
“You’ll need more than an RPG,” Everett replied. “Hit it with one of those Vampirs.”
“Technically, it’s still an RPG,” Levi replied.
“The PG-29V rocket in that thing is nearly three-feet long. Call it whatever you want. It’s got a lot more kick than what you’ve been shooting.” Everett kept a steady path toward the mosque.
Ali crouched low between the two front seats and looked out the front windshield. “Something telling me this apartments will be big problem.”
“Why?” Courtney turned to him.
“Can be that jihadis have been relocated to be near to
mosque.”
“We’re in for a fight either way. It would actually be easier for us if they were concentrated around a central location.” Everett slowed the truck and turned back to Levi. “Is this close enough?”
“Perfect.” Levi pushed the hatch open and David, one of the other IDF fighters, helped him get the cumbersome launch tube up through the opening in the roof of the vehicle. At six-feet long, the Vampir Soviet missile system was much more awkward to operate than the shorter, standard RPGs.
“Hit the minaret near the base. Maybe you can bring it down.” Everett turned toward the rear of the vehicle.
Boooowf! The rocket left the tube. Everett watched the minaret with anticipation. POW! The warhead struck the minaret roughly two-thirds of the way from the top on the left-hand side, leaving a gaping hole, but the structure still stood.
“Should I hit it again?” Levi asked.
Everett waited for the smoke to clear. “No. That guy isn’t going to be in a hurry to climb that tower. Besides, you probably took out a section of stairs inside. I doubt he can even make it past the breach.”
Ali pointed at the minaret. “Look. It is leaning. I think it will fall!”
Everett’s mood improved as he studied the tower. Sure enough, it was lurching toward the dome on top of the mosque. The tower leaned slowly at first, then suddenly collapsed, falling on the roof and splitting the qubba wide open. Everett turned to look at Levi. “Great shot!”
Small-arms fire rang out from the three apartment buildings adjacent to the mosque. Tobias directed the remote-controlled fifty-caliber machine gun toward the center building and systematically sent rounds through all of the windows.
“We’ll have to get out of the truck to engage them,” Courtney said with a tone of urgency.
Everett pointed at her to add emphasis to his statement. “No way. You help Tobias reload the fifty. That’s our most critical asset right now. The rest of us will engage from top hatches.”
Everett stepped out of his seat and made his way to the back of the truck. He held his hand out to Levi. “Hand me an RPG launcher and a couple of grenades.”
Levi passed him one of the smaller launchers with a grenade already mounted. “You should come back inside the vehicle to reload. You’ll be drawing fire the second you pop out of the hatch.”
Everett nodded to let him know he would heed the warning. “Thanks.” Everett pulled the latch handle and pushed the hatch door open. Fully automatic AK-47 fire peppered the hatch door. Everett turned away for a moment, took a deep breath, and jumped up through the hole with the weapon. He quickly identified a target in the building closest to them and pulled the trigger of the RPG. The grenade launched toward the window where the rifle fire was originating. BOOM!
Everett dropped back down and loaded another grenade into the launcher. The three IDF soldiers worked together, taking turns shooting their AR-15s out of one of the hatches. Ali used another hatch to shoot an additional grenade at the building. When Everett came back up out of the hatch for the second shot, he noticed that five more MRAPs from his convoy had arrived and were now actively engaged in the skirmish. Everett located another window with a hostile shooting at him and pulled the trigger, sending the grenade barreling at his enemy. BOOM!
Everett rapidly transitioned to his HK rifle and shot three men working their way on foot toward the vehicle. As soon as they were eliminated, he felt someone inside the MRAP pulling him down by his belt. He let himself drop back into the Typhoon to see that it had been Courtney pulling him down.
“What are you doing?” she yelled. “Pop up, take a shot and get back down. Do you want to get killed? The sun is up and your head makes an easy target sticking out up there.”
He couldn’t take time to explain. “Courtney, I’m doing what I have to do.”
“You’re their leader. You have to stay alive to lead. That’s what you have to do.”
Everett ignored her as he loaded another grenade. He emerged from the hatch, RPG in hand and launched the projectile toward the same building, but a different window where yet another shooter was firing at them. The grenade exploded inside the apartment. The flash lit up the interior, revealing several other armed men who had been in the same room.
More trucks from Everett’s convoy arrived, and the hostiles in the apartments were soon suppressed. Everett made his way back to the driver’s seat and addressed his crew. “We’ll let the clean-up team handle it from here. I want to keep the convoy moving.”
The team acknowledged Everett and locked the top hatch. Everett started the engine and honked his horn to signal for the rest of the advance team vehicles to follow. “Next stop, Hafik.”
Everett’s advance team would roll right past the small village of Zara unless they were engaged, but since the highway didn’t go through the center of town, that was unlikely. A secondary defense team of heavily armored vehicles would provide security while the convoy drove by Zara.
It took just under forty minutes to reach the outskirts of Zara. Everett saw very little activity while driving by. He checked the rearview mirror, making sure none of the other vehicles in the advance team took fire. If they did, the motorcade would stop and engage the enemy until the secondary team arrived. “All clear?” Everett asked Tobias who was scanning the area via the remote camera on the machine gun turret.
“I don’t see any activity,” Tobias replied.
Everett kept driving on to Hafik. He arrived thirty minutes later, completely undetected. If it were only Everett and his team, they could have easily slipped right by the tiny Turkish town without being noticed. But it wasn’t just them. Ali had assured Everett that the men of Hafik would attack the convoy, leaving him no choice but to start a fight. Everett scanned the skyline for a minaret. He looked to the north. “There’s the mosque. I guess that’s where we should go.”
“It’s at least five blocks off the main road. Maybe we should just sit here and wait for them,” Courtney said.
Everett shook his head. “We can’t. If Ali’s reasoning holds true, once we’re spotted, they’ll rally at the mosque, formulate an attack plan and come hit us with a much more cohesive force than if we go kick over their hornets’ nest.”
Ali leaned forward between the two front seats. “I think so Everett is correct.”
“Then let’s get it over with,” Tobias said from the remote-control turret seat behind them.
Everett slowed down and waited for the other five MRAPs to turn off onto the dirt road that led back into the neighborhood. “Is everybody ready?”
“Ready!” Tonya said.
“Locked and loaded.” Levi sat beneath a hatch with an RPG in hand.
David called out, “I’m ready, sir.”
Everett pressed his foot on the accelerator and drove straight toward certain trouble.
CHAPTER 13
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
Exodus 23:20-23
The armored vehicles of the advanced team roared down the dry dirt road kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake. They quickly arrived at the five-story mosque with the shiny silver dome. Two minarets flanked each side of the mosque like missiles ready to launch. Each was topped with glistening silver cones, which matched the metallic dome.
Levi prepared to deploy one of the PG-29V rockets. “Should I take out one of the minarets?”
“Take them both,” Everett replied. “We’re not here to win hearts and minds.”
Levi slapped the latch and pushed open the hatch. David a
ssisted him with getting the six-foot launch tube through the roof.
“Shooters on the roof!” TA, TA, TA, TA TAT! Tobias began hammering the adjacent building with fifty-caliber machine-gunfire.
Shwooof! Everett watched from the driver’s seat as the first rocket flew toward the minaret on the right. BOOM! A direct hit in the center of the tower caused it to topple, raining debris onto the dome of the mosque and the surrounding sidewalk below.
A window opening in the grey concrete building to the right of the mosque caught Everett’s eye. “Gun!” Everett instantly jumped up from his seat, released the clasp on the hatch above the front cab, and stuck his HK out the opening. He wasted no time before unleashing a volley of bullets toward the open window.
Levi had just reappeared with his second rocket, ready to launch. He flinched at the surprise of seeing Everett spring up through the roof of the Typhoon and sent the rocket careening off course. BLAM!
Everett turned to see what the projectile had hit. A gaping hole in the center dome of the mosque billowed smoke and ash into the morning sky. He turned to Levi with a grin. “Not a complete waste. Go ahead and give that minaret one more try. I’ve got you covered.”
“Yes, sir.” Levi dropped back into the MRAP.
Everett watched the grey concrete building through his reflex sight. Gunfire rang out from behind him and he spun around to see local jihadis charging toward the other vehicles in his advance team. Everett emptied his magazine in their general direction, then dropped back into the cab to change mags.
Courtney was pulling another belt of fifty caliber ammunition out of a box and assisting Tobias with reloading. “Everett! Stay in the cab!”
“I’m just taking a few pot shots. I have to cover Levi.” He slapped the fresh mag into the well of the HK and jumped back up through the hatch.
Levi leveled the launch tube.