The families along their chosen route were probably faring better than most, Jake assumed.  They saw the occasional father and son tending to livestock, or a garden, or the numerous other activities associated with rural living that demanded daily attention.  They even saw a tractor being used sparingly by an old farmer.  The old man most likely had a large store of fuel on his farm that he was rationing as best he could.

The scenery had not changed much during the day.  There were more forests now, but pastures and fields were still abundant enough.  They had noticed several country stores at some of the more major intersections that appeared abandoned, but they had not dared to stop and investigate.  The trials of the night before were still fresh on their minds.

The Bronco had been mostly silent for the last hour or so.  The conversations of earlier had faded as each had turned to other preoccupations.  Kate quietly read her Bible in the back as Sasha rested her head in Kate’s lap.  Geram had relieved Jake of driving for a while so he could study the old Army Ranger Handbook that he had found in Frank’s vault. Jake was currently reading about combat patrols.  Sasha lifted her head as Kate broke the silence and said, “Hey babe, listen to this:

‘The sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.  In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.  You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.  You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness; you stripped him from head to foot.  With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.  I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord , I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.’”

“Where is that from, Revelation?” Jake asked.

“Nope, it’s from the Old Testament.”

“Really?  What’s the story behind it?”

“It’s pretty interesting,” she replied, “it’s from Habakkuk.  He was a minor prophet in the Bible but this wasn’t a prophecy, it was part of a debate between him and God.”

“A debate?”

“Yeah, he starts off questioning God as to why He wouldn’t do something about all of the evil in Judah.  God replied that He was going to send the Babylonians to conquer them.  This left Habakkuk even more confused.  He wondered why God would send a nation to destroy them that was even more corrupt than they were.”

“I can see the man’s point.”  Geram interjected.

“I know, right?” Kate replied, “What I read was from the end of the book. He ultimately learned to trust God regardless of the circumstances.  Even though everything was failing around him, God still had a purpose and a reason.”

Geram asked, “What was the purpose?”

“It doesn’t say,” she said, “but I think that’s the point.  Habakkuk didn’t know the purpose, and we don’t either.  It’s not for us to know.”

“Maybe the purpose was that Judah had run out of chances.”

“Maybe so.”

Suddenly, the radio-frequency scanner on the dash crackled to life. Jake grabbed it and turned up the volume.

“…is Checkpoint Two, we’re under assault!  …taking heavy fire; may have to fall back!  Send reinforcements immediately!”  Gunfire was readily apparent in the background of the broadcast.

Kate said, “What was that?”

“Sounds like some locals’re under attack,” Jake replied, “We’re just a few miles outside of Decatur; it could be there.”

Geram began searching the channels on the CB radio for any other communications.

“What’re you doing?” Jake asked.

“We need to find that channel.”  Geram scanned, but found nothing.  “Must be on some other frequency,” he reasoned, “Hopefully they’ve got a CB too.”

“Wait,” Jake interjected, “is that safe?  We could be getting in over our heads.”

The scanner chirped again.  “Checkpoint Two, this is Town Hall.  One is taking fire too.  I’m sorry, you’re on your own.  We’ve no one to spare.  Hold out as long as you can.”

Geram turned to Jake and said, “That town is about to get overrun.  There’re innocent people that’ll die if we don’t help; I know that for sure.  I don’t know all the details, but I reckon we should help if we can.”

Jake glanced back at Kate. She nodded in agreement.  Finally, he relented.  “You’re right, let’s do what we can.”

Geram keyed up the CB. “Checkpoint Two this is a southbound civilian on Highway 15.   State your location and we’ll aid you.”

He repeated the broadcast several times without any response.  Each time, he would flip to the next channel and repeat himself.   As he was about to change the channel again, a voice crackled through.

“Civilian on High way, 15 this is Town Hall, what’s your purpose?”

“Town Hall, we wish to aid Checkpoint Two.   All you have is my word, but we mean you no harm.”

“Describe yourself Civilian.”

“We’re a tan Bronco southbound on Highway 15, approximately five miles north of Decatur.”

“Continue south, C ivilian; you’ll find them.  Will contact Checkpoint Two.”

Immediately afterwards the scanner barked to life.

“Checkpoint Two , this is Town Hall; you have alleged friendly support two miles to the north.  They’re in a tan, Ford Bronco and are willing to provide you aid.  Do you copy?”

“Copy Town Hall, send them on; we’ll take what we can get.  It can’t get any worse.”

***

After a short while, they approached the scene.  Checkpoint Two was several police cruisers parked across the highway.  The assailants were a dozen men hidden behind a deuce and a half with an M2 Browning mounted in the back of the truck.  Checkpoint Two was utterly and helplessly pinned to the ground by the machine gun’s fire.

Geram pulled off the highway a little less than a thousand hundred yards from the attackers.  He eased the Bronco behind a thick stand of trees that acted as a wind break for one of the fields along the road.  Sasha whined in protest as they left her in the back seat.

They moved along the woods line on the right-of-way of the road.  The gunfire ahead of them was brutal.

Geram explained his plan to Jake and Kate, “We stay low and out of the checkpoint’s line of fire as we approach.  When we get a couple hundred yards away, we find a safe position in the woods and start picking these guys off.  As long as they don’t see us coming, we should be fine.”

As they neared the predetermined distance, they searched and found a fallen oak tree not far in the woods.  The thick trunk provided excellent cover.  There was a narrow gap between the ground and the tree that was suitable for firing through.

Geram removed the night-vision scope from the FAL and peered through the rear aperture sight.  He searched for the gunner on the M2 atop the deuce and a half.  Jake and Kate had matching, scoped AR-15s, and had already settled on their targets.  The assailants’ backs were fully exposed.  They were so confident in their superior firepower, and focused on overrunning the checkpoint, they failed to consider a counter-assault from the direction they had come from.