Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) (40 page)

“What do you mean, can’t see the end of all things?”

“I mean, God calls everyone home at their appointed time. We don’t see everything like He does. Murder is blasphemy, its man’s attempt to assume responsibility for God,” answered John.

The drops were quicker and easier each time. A few of the prisoners wanted to talk, to assure Paul that they would never return, but their words fell on deaf ears. Two of the men actually asked Paul to allow them to keep their boots, which Paul thought was funny given their general lack of consideration for the lives and wellbeing of others, but when one prisoner told Paul he’d never find another pair of boots, he began to appreciate their concern. Paul knew he was right, that his hopes for finding replacement boots, or even tennis shoes for that matter, would be difficult at best. Still, he took everyone’s boots. Paul knew, from personal experience, what the bikers were capable of, and slowing them down even more felt like the right thing to do.

Day was stepping willingly into night when John pulled the van up to the motorcycle barricade. With Paul’s help, he moved two motorcycles aside and drove through the gap. Someone had flattened all the tires, so they were much harder to stand and roll without assistance,
but John thought it made for a better barricade. After returning the bikes to the line, John was panting heavily from the exertion and noticed Paul doing the same. The men looked at each other, nodded, and silently climbed back into the van.

John considered parking the van in his driveway, but instead decided to leave it on the road in front of the house. He was sure Tony knew the situation had changed, so there was no point in hiding the van, but it felt wrong to park it any closer to the house than he had to. As far as John was concerned the van was dirty, and he had no desire to keep it. His plan was to park it in front of Tony’s house, or better yet drive it through his front door, but only when the time was right. One thing was certain, John knew he and Tony would have a talk before sunrise.

Paul grabbed the still full gas can from the back of the van, and John, purely out of habit, locked the van. As they approached the house someone yelled, “Halt!” It was Marcus’ voice, and it came from the alcove with commanding authority. John was impressed, and he stopped as ordered. “Is that you, dad?”

Paul answered, “Yes!” clearly tired of the security game and ready for it to end.

Annoyed, Paul moved to walk up to the door, but John gently stopped him with a hand on his arm and said, “Let them practice. This is important training for them.” Paul sat the gas can on the ground and sighed.

“Advance to be recognized!” came Marcus’ second command. The two men moved to within a few feet of the front porch and Marcus ordered them to stop again. A flashlight beam cut the nearly dark night as it shined on their upturned faces. John looked away to avoid the light in his eyes and patiently endured the visual scrutiny. A moment later someone yelled for Pete.

The front door opened and Pete stepped out. “It’s good to see you guys. I was beginning to worry about you . . . again,” he said, as he reached down and picked up the gas can. “You guys look beat. Marissa saved you some dinner. You hungry?”

When John didn’t reply, Paul said, “I’m not speaking for John, but I could eat a horse.”

“I think I’ll rest a bit first,” said John. I’m so tired I can hardly think straight.”

Pete scanned the street and said, “Let’s get inside, I want to hear how it went,” and he led the two men into the house.

John saw that someone hung a heavy blanket over the interior side of the alcove opening. “That was a good idea,” said John. “Should keep the interior light and noise levels down.”

“That’s what I thought, but it also stops the wind . . . a little. With the window gone it’s drafty up there, so I also hung a piece of plastic over the top part of the opening. It will probably get cold up there tonight,” said Pete, as he looked up to see the boys staring at them from a gap in the curtain. “You guys get back to work,” he barked at them, and then looked at John to add, “I’ll go put this fuel in the garage and then we can talk about tonight. But I agree, you need to rest before we do anything,” finished Pete.

“Yes, I could use a little rest,” replied John quietly.

When Pete walked through the kitchen, Jenna came out to greet and embrace her husband. “You look terrible,” she said to John as she took his hand and led him to the. “I’ve never seen you look so tired before. Are you sick?”

“No. I’m fine. I’m just really tired. It’s been a long day. Do you mind if I lay down for a bit?” he asked.

“No, of course not. I’m just glad you’re home safe,” she said, as she helped him remove his boots. “I’m guessing this means you’re not interested in a little romance tonight?” teased Jenna.

“Only if that romance is with Tony,” replied John. He saw Jenna’s shocked expression, smiled, and said, “You know what I mean, babe. I’ve got some business to attend to with him . . . he’s got my weapons and I want them back. He also needs to account for shoving a pistol in my face.”

“What are you planning to do?” she asked.

“I’m gonna rest for a couple hours . . . I think till about two o’clock. Then we’re going to pay Tony a visit,” said John.

“Who’s we?” asked Jenna.

“Just Pete and I, but I may need you to cover my watch shift with Adam in the morning. Is that something you can handle?”

“Of course,” replied Jenna, and she examined John’s eyes for the untold story. “I don’t know what you have planned, but I’m worried about you. Will you be careful?”

“I’d be worried if you weren’t,” replied John. “And yes, I’ll be careful. Pete will be babysitting me . . . or maybe I’ll be babysitting him. We alternate that duty at times.” Jenna wasn’t amused with John’s tact, and she reached up and put a hand to his forehead. “Seriously, Jenna, I’m fine. I just need a little rest.”

Pete walked in after wrapping his knuckles lightly on the doorway trim and said, “Hope I’m not interrupting, but I wanted to talk to John before he crashed.”

“You better talk fast,” said Jenna, as she passed Pete in the doorway. “He looks ready to collapse.”

“I’m fine,” said John. “What’s up, Pete.”

“She’s right, you know,” said Pete, as he stood near the end of the bed. “I’ve never seen you look so tired before.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m sure it has a lot to do with me taking out the biker guards,” replied John.

“Yeah. How did you manage that? It must have been . . . what . . . five to one odds?”

John smiled at Pete’s interest and said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” as he closed his eyes and laid back on the bed

“Try me,” replied Pete.

“Well, you remember what I said about Luanne, how she took out the two bikers that came back for me?”

“Yeah, I remember,” said Pete.

“I took care of the other guards long before that happened,” said John. “Did Luanne cut you free and give you a weapon?” asked Pete.

“Nope . . . it was different but, in a way . . . something like that,” replied John with his eyes still closed.

“I don’t get you,” said Pete, as he took a seat on Jenna’s bedroom ottoman at the foot of the bed.

“I killed the guards while I was out of body.”

Pete said “What?” and stood up, but then he quickly sat down again when he saw John still had his eyes closed. “Say again?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but that’s exactly what happened. I left my body and killed those guards with a sword I had,” said John, as he draped an arm over his eyes. “And then I came here to tell you and Jenna that I was safe.”

Pete was silent, contemplative, and just as John was about to drift off to sleep, he asked, “Can you do that with Tony?”

“From my understanding . . . that situation I was in was . . . special. I was tied to a chair with no hope of rescue. I think it was also meant as a learning point, but I’m still coping with that. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. I believe that if I’m capable of acting in body, then I’m to act in body. It’s one of the reasons I think I’m so tired. Working on the other side really tires me out physically, and the more work I do on the other side, the more tired I am when I return,” said John.

“OK, I’ll let you rest. You can fill me in later,” said Pete as he stood. “Are you still up for a visit with Tony tonight?”

John opened his eyes and looked at Pete. “Of course I am,” he said, and then added, “I want my guns back. I say we plan for a zero-two wake up. If you don’t hear from me then will you come check on me?” asked John.

“I will,” said Pete, as he turned to leave the room. “I’ll get my tools ready, and see you at two.” And if he didn’t know better, he thought for sure that John was asleep before he left the room.

At the sound of the alarm, John reached over and touched the screen of his phone. Of all the things he thought he’d not need or use
after the disaster, his smart phone was at the top of his list. But despite the lack of a carrier service, his phone continued to provide him with simple pleasures like time, date, and wakeup calls. Being that his phone was more like a computer than a phone, it still provided many functional apps, though the feature he missed the most was real-time mapping and GPS navigation. Despite being in the dark, he continued to us his conversion programs, as well as knot tying and other survival related apps. His solitaire app helped him think, and the camera still worked, but he wondered if he’d ever download any pictures again. Probably not, but he wasn’t ready to abandon his phone just yet, at least not as long as he could keep it charged.

John sat up and realized he was given a relaxing and undisturbed four hours of rest. He was also relieved that it was a dreamless session. For John, a dreamless four hours of sleep was better than eight hours or more of dream filled sleep. He reached for Jenna in the dark and was surprised to find her lying in bed next to him. He didn’t remember her joining him, and wondered when she did. She had also been pulling some long hours getting ready for the trip. Everyone was tired, even the kids, and John wondered how long they could endure it. He figured they would eventually grow accustomed to the pace, but he wondered if they would break before that happened.

He leaned over to kiss Jenna and got up to dress. John wondered if there was a limit to how much crossover a person could manage and still function on this side? Would there come a time when he wouldn’t want to come back to his body? He doubted it, but it also scared him a little. To leave Jenna and the kids was the last thing he wanted to do. Despite his growing abilities, he was as locked to this side of life as everyone else who was currently living. Even the word “living” meant something different to him now. How such a word became particular to physical life was strange, especially now that he knew spiritual life was just as alive, even more so, than his physical existence.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee greeted John as he stepped into the entryway. After pausing briefly at the alcove to check in with Paul,
John made his way into the kitchen. He found Pete sitting at the island sipping coffee from a ceramic mug, while cleaning his pistol with an oily rag. “You want some coffee?” he asked. It was a long standing joke of theirs because John had never taken to drinking coffee, which was a rare depravation in the army given the long hours they demanded of their upper middle ranks.

“Cream, two sugars, and a shot of bourbon while you’re at it,” quipped John.

Pete looked up, smiled, and said, “Yeah, right. I’m glad to see you looking better. You looked like death warmed over last night.”

“That’s about the extent of it,” said John, and after a brief pause he added, “But isn’t it still
last night
?”

Pete chuckled softly and said, “I crashed a little after you, so I’m set for the day. How do you want to do this?”

“If I didn’t know better I’d say you were excited about this mission,” said John.

“Who wouldn’t be in a situation like this? It’s funny though, I never thought I’d be playing Army as a civilian,” said Pete.

“Pete, you’re not, nor will you ever be, a civilian. I talked to your mom. She told me you were born with a high-and-tight, and had a DCUs onesie with combat booties.”