“Thank you so much.” Said Jon.
“No problem, it’s my pleasure. These are easy ones to handle. I’m very glad I didn’t have to get you to the medical trailer and go hunting inside of you for the bullet. You wouldn’t have liked that and neither would I. Next time, please don’t try to catch one.”
Erin weakly smiled and closed her eyes.
“What I gave her made her sleepy. She’ll sleep for a while. It will help her deal with the shock of being shot. Her wound will heal with only a small scar, she will be fine, I promise. I’m going to move you to the SUV with your daughters, a soldier will take over this truck. All you have to do is move five vehicles back. You can leave your bags here, we’ll unpack everything when we reach the southern Virginia FOB.”
“Thank you so much.”
“There’s the signal we’re going to move again in five minutes, I better get back to the first aid truck.”
“Thank you again.”
The soldiers weren’t able to capture a live suspect to question so they didn’t know if this attack was related to the Satanic Church or not, or if these were another band of raiders. Frank wondered, who in their right mind would attempt to attack a military convoy? Surely they could see the cannons and machine guns. Did they think the military wasn’t going to return fire? Look at the firepower this convoy has. Anyone attacking it would have to be crazy. Yeah, well, anyone still living here is crazy. I answered my own question.
Chapter 29
The Elder liked the modified Jeep because the tracks enabled him to drive through any depth of snow. Nothing stopped him. He had six AR-15s and four AK-74s he’d taken from the other Jeeps after he killed the people in them. He also took all of their ammo which amounted 11,000 rounds. He also discovered nine Glock handguns and a box of Marine Raider knives. He smiled when he opened a suitcase and discovered nine hand grenades wrapped in men’s briefs. That’s what I call a load in your tidy whities. I know we’ll find a use for those.
“STOP, who are you?”
“I am the Elder, who in our Lord’s name are you?”
“Elder, show yourself and say the greeting or we’ll kill you. You are surrounded by heavily armed true believers.”
“I am the Elder of the Church of our Lord Satan, the fallen who should have ruled in place of God. We pledged our lives and eternal souls to the lord of the underworld for he will inherit this Earth.” The Elder knelt in the snow and spoke in a dead language they considered the language of the fallen. The guards rushed to his side. They bowed to him. The one who stopped him spoke, “Elder, we thought you’d died at the hands of the military…”
“You need to have more faith. Our Lord wouldn’t let me die until his work here is finished and he’s sitting on the throne. How many are left?”
“We have three hundred. We have cleaned the main cave and resupplied it from our reserves. We have burnt the bodies per our Lord’s instructions.”
“Excellent, let’s get out of this weather, we have a lot to discuss.”
@@@@@
Frank was surprised when Jon knocked on his window, “Hello son, may we come in?”
“Mr. Coats?!”
“You might as well call me dad. We’re going to be united for the next segment. Mom caught a bullet…”
Trinity and Ariden screamed. They opened their doors and ran to Erin who’s right arm was in a sling. She said, “I’m okay, really. Let me get in the SUV and out of this weather. I’m very sleepy from whatever they gave me.”
Erin slowly climbed in the back seat. Ariden spread a blanket over her then she climbed into the third row of seats with Trinity. Jon took the driver’s seat with Frank next to him. Jon leaned over his seat to look at Erin who was already fast asleep. “The medic gave her something to take the pain away and it made her tired, so she’ll sleep a little and allow her body to help heal. There’s nothing to see for the next few hours.”
Frank looked concerned, “She’ll be okay? The bullet didn’t hit a bone or anything?”
“Went right through her arm. I took the bullet.” Jon handed the bent bullet to Frank, “It went through her arm, hit the metal bulkhead and landed on the floor.”
“It’s so small…”
“Yeah, but moving at over 2,000 feet per second makes it very deadly.”
“What fired it?”
“It’s the same as the ones our M4s shoot. I bet it was an AR rifle or a stolen military rifle. Whomever they were, we killed all of them. The scouts could only find parts of people and bodies. They didn’t find anyone alive. They have no idea who attacked us. I see you caught one.”
“Didn’t enter the interior.”
“Good, how are my daughters?”
“Sir, both are fine.”
“Frank, you don’t have to call me sir or Mr. Coats. If you and Trinity are going to remain a couple, then you better get used to calling me dad. I’m only going to tell you one thing, never ever hurt her. If you ever lay a hand on her to hurt her, I’ll be the last thing you see before I finish you. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“Yes, sir…”
“What did I just tell you?”
“Yes, dad. I love her, I’d never hurt her.”
“Good and remember that. Life is going to be hard enough when we arrive at our new homes. I have no idea what to expect when we arrive.”
“Huh? You don’t have an address or anything? You left your homes with no information?”
“We couldn’t stay. If we did, you wouldn’t have met Trinity
