G Hopf - The Long Road

His trek across the base ended with the two men taking him into another hangar-size building just to the west of the barracks. Gordon’s angst quickly turned to confusion as he saw a large group of children playing. He scanned each face hoping to see Hunter, but to his dismay his son wasn’t there. They hurried him past the children and into a small side room. Just as he stepped into the room, he heard a familiar voice coming from the group of children. It sounded like Hunter; he tried to step back, but the men forced him into the room.

“Sit down, we’ll be right back,” one of the men said to Gordon after they placed him on a sofa that was against the far wall.

Gordon didn’t answer the man; he adjusted himself and looked around. The room at one time had been an office. Besides the couch there were two chairs and a large desk. He could hear the children laughing in the other room. He didn’t know how to act now. He instinctively wanted to call out to his son, but he knew every move he made had to be calculated. He needed to ensure his and Hunter’s survival by making sure that he didn’t enflame the situation until he could execute an escape plan. The only reason he thought they’d bring him to this building and this room was to see Hunter. He obviously didn’t know Rahab, but maybe the man had been telling the truth about his being able to see Hunter. The walk across the small base had been helpful and informative. The office, though, didn’t provide any clues; it was much like the one from the day before.

“God, I got to get the fuck outta here,” Gordon said out loud. He knew the longer he stayed the greater the chances were that Samantha and Haley would end up here too. Just when his wife would come looking for them was the only unknown. He knew she would, but when would she find this place? He had given instructions to Nelson to pull up stakes and head north if anything ever happened to him, but he knew Samantha. With Hunter missing, that wasn’t going to happen.

Thoughts of regret now filled Gordon’s mind. He should have listened to everyone else, he should have listened to Nelson and Samantha. Leaning forward, he planted his head in his hands. A feeling of defeat replaced the regret. He’d tried so hard to keep things together in Rancho Valentino, but for what? Everyone eventually fought each other, and it had torn the community apart, resulting in the deaths of two good friends. He attempted to defend his own doubts by asking himself, How am I supposed to know and plan for each eventual outcome? Leading people was not easy, and he found it even tougher to lead when his family’s lives were at stake.

Samantha’s frustration with him had grown the moment they left the gates of Rancho Valentino. He knew she was upset about Simone, but there wasn’t anything he could’ve done about her suicide. Then had come the attack on the road days ago. In order to lead this group he would have to take risks. His inner self now knew this decision to go out scavenging was a mistake, a mistake that had caused the death of Holloway and now might even bring about his and Hunter’s untimely demise.

“You’re such a fool,” he muttered to himself.

The laughter of the children jolted him back to the present. He stood up and walked over to the desk to see if there was something on it that could help him identify his location.

The desk had been stripped bare. In each drawer he opened he found just miscellaneous items, like paper clips, pens, a penny, thumbtacks. Nothing gave him a location. He then remembered back to the Marine Corps and how they would mark each piece of equipment, including desks, with stickers stating it was government property. Maybe, just maybe, there would be such marking here. He looked under the desk for a sticker—nothing.

The door opened. Gordon jerked and smacked his head as he pulled it out quickly from underneath the desk.

“You won’t find anything there worth any value, Mr. Van Zandt,” Rahab said, standing in the open doorway.

With a weak attempt at humor, Gordon quipped, “I saw a quarter on the floor.”

Rahab just smiled. “Come with me.”

Gordon was now very confused. Rahab didn’t appear to be concerned with him or remotely afraid that he’d do something. As he stepped out of the office, Gordon looked for Hunter but did not see him among the children.

The children all appeared to be happy and healthy. They were laughing and enjoying themselves, and nowhere in their demeanor did he see any distress.

The walls of the hall were adorned with hand-drawn pictures by the children. Rahab or a Christ-like figure appeared in many of them. Along the wall also hung what Gordon guessed were biblical quotations.

Gordon and his brother, Sebastian, had not been raised in an actively religious home. His mother had been a Methodist and his father a Lutheran, but neither practiced their birth religion. During their childhood the family went to church but only on the big holidays like Christmas and Easter. Not having been raised with faith, neither Gordon nor Sebastian took it up. After his two tours in Iraq, Gordon had completely washed his hands of religion. He had encountered many people from different faiths and felt none had a corner on what was right.

The way he was being treated today was so different from the way he’d been treated the day before. Rahab opened a door at the end of the hall and motioned for him to go inside.

When he reached the open doorway, his eyes lit up. “Hunter!” Gordon raced into the room and grabbed his son. They embraced tightly. Being able to hold him and see that he was unharmed brought such relief to Gordon. “Are you okay? Let me look at you.”

“I’m fine, Dad,” Hunter answered.

“Oh my God, I was so scared for you,” Gordon said after looking him over.

Hunter embraced him again and said, “I want to leave.”

Gordon didn’t know how to answer him. He could see Rahab out of the corner of his eye.

“You see, I told you. I am a man of my word. Now can you answer my question from yesterday?” Rahab walked in and sat down in the chair next to him.

“I told you, we’re alone.”

“I already know you have a group and that you have many supplies.” Rahab looked at Hunter as he spoke.

Gordon paused; he now knew that Hunter had told Rahab about their group. The next time he opened his mouth could be critical.

“You have to understand that our group is small; we have nothing you need. You have a military base. We mean you no harm. Just let us go.”

“Your son, lovely boy by the way, told us your group was heading to Idaho. Why Idaho?”

“What do you want? I don’t understand any of this. Do you want our supplies? What exactly do you want?” Gordon asked, now frustrated with Rahab’s line of questioning.

“I will be honest with you, as I have nothing to fear. I didn’t blindfold you when I brought you here because I wanted you to see for yourself that we are a large group. We have more than a hundred and fifteen people in our ministry. It takes a lot to feed them. We have been going out to get supplies, but as you are well aware, things are scarce.”

“So you want to take our supplies?”

“No, I want you to come join our group, all of you.”

Hearing this threw Gordon off; he’d never imagined Rahab would ask him to join his group.

“Why would I do that?”

“Our faith requires us to go out and minister to those who will listen. Our flock needs to grow, and we need more able-bodied men and women of faith to take up our mission.”

“Not to sound cliché, but what happens if I say no?”

“If you say no? Then we will dispatch you.”

“Dispatch me?”

“We will send you to God. We will cleanse you and send you to our heavenly father,” Rahab said flatly. He approached Gordon and placed his hand gently on his shoulder.