STEADFAST Book Two: America's Last Days (The Steadfast Series 2) by Telbat D.I

Author:Telbat, D.I. [Telbat, D.I.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: In Season Publications
Published: 2017-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

*~*

Chapter 5

Lieutenant Joel Grayport drove his Humvee through two check points on their way to the courthouse. Heavily-armed soldiers let him pass without more than a wave, even with Eric, a bearded stranger, as a passenger. All around them, many buildings had remained half-burnt or in disrepair for years. There'd been no rebuilding, no recovery, no rising from the ashes of civil fighting. For six years, surviving had been the goal. Fear had been their driving emotion. How grateful Eric felt in that moment that God had directed him on Pan-Day to drive up that lonely mountain road and build a cabin. He hadn't seen half the misery these people had, but that didn't mean he could stand aside now that people in need required what he had—spiritually and logistically.

Joel halted the Humvee two blocks from the centrally-located courthouse. Soldiers on night patrol stood against a partially-demolished tech store, smoking cigarettes. On a low platform in the middle of the square were wooden gallows. Four bodies hung by their necks. One was even a child. Eric thought one of the dead moved, but it was a scavenger bird. It was a gruesome sight. The citizens of Mastover were forced to see what consequences they faced if one turned against Judge Grayport and the Lib-Org government.

The courthouse beyond the gallows seemed formidable, and Eric suddenly wanted to be anywhere but in Mastover, Wyoming. He wanted to be in the mountains, hiking beside Gretchen, Andy's hand in his, Runner dashing about as she chased squirrels. But, no. Runner was dead, and Gretchen was already far away. Before him stood a courthouse that housed soldiers with whom he had nothing in common, but he still desperately needed them to be free so balance could return to the land.

"There are about a dozen guards inside." Joel squinted through the windshield, then frowned at Eric. "I'll never be able to get you past them. We'd have to get downstairs. Only one holding cell has a functioning toilet, so that's where the resistance fighters are held."

"How many?"

"Seven."

"Is Major Milton Pickford with them?"

"He is. My father said that with his capture, he broke the resistance. He'll be furious if the major escapes, but it's impossible, anyway—if we want to get out alive."

"Exactly where in the basement are they being held?"

He drove the Humvee around the square and parked facing another wall of the courthouse, his headlights on the structure.

"There. That's where the cell is. The top of the cell has a small window at ground level. See it at the bottom of the wall along the ground there?"

"I see it." Eric licked his lips. This was a lot harder than springing Grandma Talia from Adderthorn's jail the year before. "Does the cell extend to the corner of the building?"

"Yeah, the cell fills that whole part of the basement."

"Let's get out. I have an idea."

They both climbed out of the Humvee. The odor in the air reminded Eric of Major Milton's resistance camp that had run with sewage.

"What now?" Joel asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.