by Mark Goodwin
Everett turned, facing what was to be his end. Outgunned by the jihadis, his time was up. Not being one to roll over and die without a fight, he shot the last man struggling to leave the wrecked Humvee, then directed his fire at the massive wave of assailants who were charging right for him.
Everett took one final breath from this realm and squeezed the trigger. PA, PA, PA, PA, POW!
Miraculously, the MOC fighters were falling dead as soon as they could get out of the stalled MAXX PRO. Everett kept shooting, unable to see the source of the enemy’s demise.
“Everett!” Courtney called out from the cover of the Typhoon as she lowered her weapon.
Stunned to still be breathing, Everett rushed to her position where he found that it was she and Ali who had neutralized the sword of death swinging for Everett’s head.
TA, TA, TA, TAT! BOOM! Machine gunfire and RPGs still fell like hail as the team continued to be bombarded by the last remaining Humvee.
“Did we get the staff?”
Avigail emerged from the upside-down Patrol, holding the wooden stick triumphantly in the air. “Got it!”
Everett smiled. “Great, let’s go!”
TA, TA, TAT! Three bullets ripped through Avigail’s body from the direction of the Humvee.
“Avi!” Daliah screamed, covering her mouth in horror.
Everett grabbed the staff from the fallen girl, pushing his wife, Ali, and Daliah into the Typhoon. His stomach soured and he fought back the urge to vomit. As much as he hated to lose men in battle, ten times more did he loathe the disgusting feeling of losing a woman under his command. It just didn’t seem right. Perhaps he thought soft beautiful creatures like Avigail didn’t belong in such a grotesque arena as the theatre of war. Or perhaps it was too much of a painful reminder of Courtney’s mortality. Maybe it was a little bit of both. But there was no time for philosophical reflection at the moment. He had to get Courtney, Moses’ staff, and the rabbi away from the relentless massacre at hand, or they would all surely perish.
Once back in the vehicle, Everett shoved the gear stick and pressed the accelerator propelling the Typhoon back onto the road. “Ali, I need you and Tonya to take out this Humvee. Micah, Daliah, you have to provide cover fire for Ali and Tonya so they can get the Vampir launch tube through the hatch and aim. I know what I’m asking you is dangerous, but if we don’t get rid of this Hummer, none of us will survive. We have to protect Moses’ staff with our lives. It’s the most critical element to our entire plan.”
Without asking, Courtney stood up and flung open the top hatch over the cab. She fed her rifle through the opening and began firing to cover Ali and Tonya’s effort with the rocket launcher.
He shouted, “No, Courtney!” But it was no use. She probably couldn’t hear him from outside the hatch. And even if she could, she obviously wasn’t going to comply.
Everett pushed the heavy Typhoon as fast as it could go, but it was no match for the much-smaller, much-lighter, and much-faster Humvee.
Ting, Ting, Tink! Everett could hear the bullets from the Hummer striking the side of the Typhoon. He tensed up as he heard the impacts get close to the front of the vehicle and closer to Courtney, whose head and upper torso were exposed to the gunfire.
Everett saw the Humvee creeping up beside him. “Even if I’m slower, there’s still one advantage to being bigger.” Everett cut the wheel hard to the left, swerving into the Hummer, sending it careening into the median, and across the road to the other side. He pulled back to the center of the road and watched the Humvee as its driver fought to regain control. The driver could not and the Humvee hit the steep drainage grade past the shoulder of the road, flipping several times before coming to a complete stop in an inverted position.
Everett hit the brakes and brought the Typhoon to a halt before driving it over the median and turning it around.
“You did it!” Courtney dropped into the cab and closed the hatch.
“Great job, Everett!” Ali exclaimed as he and Tonya retreated to the inside of the vehicle.
“Why are we turning around? We still have to get the rabbi and the staff to the underground cities!” Courtney exclaimed.
“We’ll have to make two trips. First, we can drop the rabbi off at Kayseri, then come back to Sivas. The convoy will never make it through without our help. There are too many MOC fighters and they are too well armed,” Everett replied.
“Still, Kayseri is the other way,” Courtney said.
“I know, but I need to check that Humvee for fuel. We’ll never make it back with what we have in the tank.” Everett slowed as he reached the wrecked Hummer. “Tonya, Daliah.” He reluctantly turned to his wife. “And Courtney, we need you to cover us from the top hatches. Ali, Micha and myself will eliminate possible survivors and retrieve any fuel we can find.”
“You got it!” Courtney unlatched the metal door on the ceiling of the Typhoon once again and climbed up through it.
Everett led Ali and Micha out the side door of the MRAP with their weapons drawn. They shot each body they saw twice in the head before moving on to the next. Once they were certain no survivors remained, Everett retrieved a five-gallon bucket of dry storage food from the Typhoon. He emptied the contents onto the floor of the truck and brought the bucket to the Hummer, placing it beneath the fuel cap. Since the vehicle was upended, fuel was already leaking out of the cap. “We need a water bottle or something to transfer the fuel from the bucket to the Typhoon.”
“I’ve got one!” Micha sprinted back to the Typhoon and returned with his bottle. He finished the last sip and passed the receptacle to Everett.
Ali pointed back toward the road. “Look! Five-gallon metal fuel can. Probably fell off from Humvee when it went rolling!”
“Great! See if there’s anything in it and put it in the tank if there is.” Everett poured the first liter of fuel from the bucket into his MRAP.
Micha found another bottle and assisted Everett with the slow process of relaying the fuel from the upside-down Humvee to the Typhoon’s tank. The tan metal can Ali located was indeed filled with fuel and would go a long way in helping them on the return trip from Kayseri.
Everett’s hands smelled like diesel when he returned to the Typhoon, but it was a relatively small problem in light of the events which had transpired on this fateful day.
CHAPTER 16
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Romans 5:3-5
Two and a half hours later, they reached the underground city of Kayseri. Everett stopped the vehicle just long enough to let out the rabbi and the two injured soldiers from his vehicle. “Daliah, Tonya, Courtney, you three help the rabbi and the injured men. You’ll stay here with them to take care of their wounds. We’ll be back soon.”
Daliah and Tonya assisted the rabbi, whose leg was severely injured from the wreck. Courtney, however, did not get out of her seat. “I’m not getting separated from you, Everett.”
Everett knew what she was going to say before she said it. He nodded. “Okay. Can you just hand the staff to one of the girls?”
Courtney did so, careful not to step out of the vehicle as if she thought Everett might take off without her.
Ali and Micha helped the other two men out of the vehicle, then unloaded the dry storage food and other provisions which had been brought along in the Typhoon.
“We’ll be back soon. Get down into the city and find the well. Turn it to water and be waiting for us. We’ll still have to purify the wells of the other cities when we return,” Everett said.
“We’ll be ready when you arrive.” Tonya waved with her free hand.
As Everett put the truck in gear, Ali stuck his head between the seats. “You should let me drive, Everett. You need rest. Take nap for couple hours. I wake you when we get clos
e to Sivas.”
“What about you? You’ve got to be exhausted also.” Everett looked at his friend.
“I sleeped on way here. It help me so much.”
Everett nodded. “Maybe I will. But wake me when we’re like twenty miles out, or if you see any signs that the convoy broke through the hostiles in Sivas.”
“I will do it.” Ali switched places with Everett who went to the rear of the truck and made himself comfortable. Courtney also moved to the back, sat down, and put her head on Everett’s shoulder.
Everett was awoken from his slumber by Micha. “Mr. Carroll, Ali said to get you up.”
“Are we almost there?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks, and you can call me Everett.” He waited for Courtney to become fully conscious and take the weight of her head off him before he stood up and made his way to the cab.
“It does not look good.” Ali’s face was troubled.
Everett peered through the cracked windshield of the Typhoon to see plumes of smoke rising from Sivas in the distance. “I hate that we had to leave the others behind, but we had no choice. If the staff hadn’t made it through, nothing else would matter.”
“You are correct. Please, do not blame yourself for leaving.” Ali stayed on course.
“Do you want to stay at the wheel?”
“I can drive. Many times I drive in dangerous situation for Sadat.”
“I’ll get some RPGs loaded and make sure MOC knows we’re back.” Everett returned to the rear of the vehicle.
Courtney, Micha, and Everett prepared their weaponry for the battle that was before them.
Minutes later, Ali called out to the team, “We are coming in from behind the Martyrs of the Caliphate. It looks like our people pushed them back while we were gone.”
Everett nodded. “Our guys are still fighting, so we still have a chance. Stop when we’re about 300 yards out. I’ll focus the PG-29V rockets on their heavy equipment until we’re spotted. Once they see us, get us out of there. Try to find a side road that will take us back around to the Israeli side of the fighting.”
“Okay. I will do it,” Ali said.
“Micha, cover me with your rifle. Courtney, keep feeding me new rockets. Once we’re spotted and Ali initiates our retreat, I’ll transition to the regular RPGs since they’ll be easier to deploy from a fast-moving vehicle.”
“Got it!” Courtney began organizing the various projectiles that she would be handing off to Everett once the assault began.
“You can count on me, sir.” Micha checked the magazines in the front of his load-carrying vest.
When the Typhoon began to slow down, Everett hoisted the six-foot launch tube through the hatch. He found his first target, an unsuspecting desert-tan Cougar MRAP, which had probably been stolen from Iraqi forces by ISIS years ago. Everett aimed at the rear bumper of the vehicle, hoping to either damage the transmission or the rear tires. The Cougar was heavily-armored and even a direct hit from an ordnance as large as the PG-29V was not guaranteed to take it out unless he could hit it at just the right spot. SWOOEESH! The rocket left the tube. KABOOM! The back end of the cougar lifted several feet from the ground and descended hard when it came down. Flames licked the back of the vehicle while smoke trickled out from beneath. The rear door opened and MOC fighters began fleeing the vehicle.
“Rocket.” Everett reached down through the hatch and took another projectile from Courtney.
“Good shot, sir.” Micha watched from the hatch adjacent to Everett’s with his rifle ready to fire.
“Thanks.” Everett loaded the next rocket, aimed toward a Humvee closer to the front of the MOC firing line, and pulled the trigger. SHROOOFP! BOOOM! A ball of flame and smoke billowed up from the vehicle into the air.
Micha took aim. “I think they’ve identified us as the source of the assault, sir.”
Everett nodded. “One more before we go!” He took the next rocket from Courtney, quickly loaded it into the tube and fired at a technical, also near the front of the MOC line. BLOOOM! The truck exploded like a grenade, sending fire and shrapnel in every direction.
TINK! TING! The first bullets from the enraged jihadis began hitting the armored plates of the Typhoon.
KA, KA, KA, KA! Micha’s rifle spit out a steady stream of cover fire in return.
“Give me a grenade launcher and tell Ali to get us out of here!” Everett let the launch tube of the Vampir roll off the side of the roof. Since he had two more launch tubes in the vehicle, it was more expendable than the precious moments needed to transition to the smaller RPG.
“Here!” Courtney passed him the rocket-propelled grenade as the Typhoon turned to make its retreat.
Everett lifted it up through the hatch, took aim at a truck filled with MOC fighters and fired. BOOM! The truck swerved to miss the projectile but lost control in so doing, and ran off the road. It hit a telephone pole, which ended the pursuit.
“Grenade!” Everett held out his hand for another projectile from below.
Micha fired at the next pick-up truck racing toward them while Everett armed the launcher and fired. Shweeoooo! Away it went, smashing into the windshield of their assailants, exploding and leaving nothing but a burning hull of a truck.
Everett took the next grenade from Courtney. “We’re clear for now, but more are coming. Tell Ali to look for a turn-off!”
Everett loaded the new projectile onto the launcher and held tightly to the frame of the hatch as Ali slung the vehicle hard on a sharp left turn. Once the vehicle leveled out, Everett resumed his firing position, waiting to see if they’d be pursued by more MOC fighters. As soon as Everett was sure they weren’t followed, he dropped into the Typhoon and walked toward the cab. He held onto the back of Ali’s chair for balance. “Are we going to be able to meet back up with the Israelis?”
Ali pointed straight ahead. “This bridge is Red River. Should be we can follow river east for little while, then return to main road where is Israelis—if road not blocked by MOC.”
“I hope the IDF troops recognize our vehicle when we get there. I’d hate to survive everything we’ve been through only to be taken out by friendly fire.” Everett worked his way over to the passenger’s seat.
Courtney squatted between the two front seats. “We’ve yet to run into any MOC fighters with Russian vehicles. Hopefully, it won’t be a problem, but I’ll find something to make a white flag with, just to be safe.”
Everett nodded. “If you find something, tie it to your rifle and stick it through the top hatch. Don’t let yourself be exposed to gunfire. Everybody is in condition black and that’s when mistakes happen.”
“Okay.” She brushed her hand against his shoulder briefly, then returned to the back of the vehicle.
Ali reached the bridge and turned east onto the dirt road. He followed the river for two miles, then took another left. “This should be far enough to put us behind the Israeli line.”
Everett looked through the binoculars to see a watchman from their side looking back at him. “They see us. He’s lighting off one of your mortar rounds to signal for back up. He thinks we’re trying to attack from the side road. Courtney, get that flag up!”
“Got it!” Her voice preceded the sound of one of the rear top hatches being opened.
Everett watched as a Range Rover, a school bus, and a Volvo wagon arrived at the intersection. “Here come his reinforcements. It’s good to know our signaling system is functional.” Troops wearing IDF uniforms poured out of the three vehicles and took aim at the Typhoon.
“They are going to shoot us!” Ali exclaimed. “What do I do?”
“Slow down.” Everett watched the soldiers through the field glasses. “They’re lowering their weapons. I think they saw the flag. Just keep creeping toward the main road. I’ll stick my head out and explain who we are once we’re within earshot.”
Ali cautiously continued driving toward the line.
“That’s close enough, Ali. Stick the shifter
in neutral and put the parking brake on.” Everett unlocked the hatch above the cab and gently opened the cover. He stuck both hands out first, then his head.
“Mr. Carroll!” The soldier at the center of the line lowered his rifle completely.
Everett had never been so glad to hear his own name. “Hey.”
Everett instructed the soldiers to get back to their positions and asked the man who’d recognized him to hang back so he could fill Everett in on what was happening.
Micha opened the side door of the vehicle and let the soldier in.
“I’m Josiah. It’s an honor to meet you, sir. I’ve heard you speak more than once at various assemblies in Batumi.” The man who looked to be a few years older than Everett offered his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Josiah. We had to get Rabbi Hertzog and the staff through to the underground cities. We just got back. What’s going on?”
“It’s a mess, sir.” Josiah’s forehead puckered. “We’ve lost most of the armored vehicles and we’re down to civilian cars and trucks. We’ve been engaged in a prolonged firefight for more than five hours. The non-combatant section of the convoy is stopped about two miles back. They’re waiting on us to provide a secured corridor for them to pass through.”
“Is anyone watching that section of the convoy? What if they’re attacked?” Everett was concerned about the women and elderly up the road from the fighting.
Josiah nodded confidently. “When you’re talking about Israeli Jews, the term non-combatant is relative. They’re all armed and ready to fight. Those who are capable of firing a weapon are in battle formation and watching for potential trouble. Additionally, they have mortars that they can send up if they’re attacked. I believe we have you to thank for that idea.”
Everett shook his head. “That was my wife’s idea, and those were Ali’s fireworks. I can’t take credit for that.
“What’s the enemy’s situation? Do they still have armored vehicles? Tanks? What are they working with?”