G Hopf - The Long Road

Upstairs both he and Derek could hear people running around and the children crying.

A loud voice then bellowed out.

Gordon couldn’t tell who it was, but he would soon find out. He entered the stairwell and looked up quickly. No one was in his field of view. He slung the rifle and pulled out the pistol, a Glock 9-mm. He dropped the magazine to inspect the rounds and checked it to see if a round was chambered. The magazine was full and a bullet was loaded. He slapped the magazine back in and proceeded up the stairs.

Reaching the top, he stood with his back against the wall next to the door.

He placed his finger to his mouth, signaling Derek to be quiet.

Derek confirmed with a nod. Sweat was pouring off of him, and his eyes showed a deep-felt determination.

Gordon turned the knob and slowly opened the door.

The second the door opened, the sounds he had heard earlier became amplified.

He let the door close quietly and said to Derek, “When I open the door, I’m going left; you need to come right behind me and go right. Be careful what you shoot.”

“Okay,” Derek answered nervously.

“On three. One, two, three,” Gordon ordered, then opened the door and entered the hallway.

Derek followed right behind him.

Three men stood only ten feet from Gordon.

The men were stunned to see him and began to bring their guns up.

Gordon started to shoot while slowly walking to the right; he wanted to make it harder for them to hit a moving target. He hit the first two before they could fire a single shot.

The third man fired but missed.

Gordon could see the fear on his face, and he squeezed a shot, hitting the guard in the face. The back of the man’s head exploded and he dropped to the ground.

Just behind him, Gordon heard Derek fall.

Not seeing anyone else in the hall, he looked over his shoulder to see Derek kneeling on the floor. Blood poured out of his right shoulder.

“Damn!” Gordon barked. He took a few steps back to check on him. “How bad is it?”

“Aah, if this was eight weeks ago and this happened to me on Fifth in Hillcrest, I’d say it’s a bad day. But because it’s not and I’m not dead, I’ll have to say I’ll be okay.”

“Good man, just stay here and watch the door. I’m going to finish this and get my boy,” Gordon said.

The crying of the children echoed off the walls and covered up the fact that the gunfire from outside had stopped.

Gordon tucked the pistol away and brought the rifle back into action. He loaded a fresh magazine and proceeded down the hall. At the corner he scanned and saw some children standing in the hall, but no adults. He paused for a moment to see if one of Rahab’s men would make an appearance. None did.

He committed himself and walked fully into the hallway. With the rifle at the ready, he entered a large open room. About fourteen children were there, many crying. No Hunter. Gordon walked up to the oldest child and asked, “Where’s Hunter?”

The child pointed to the door next to the room.

“Is anyone in there with him?”

“Brother Jeremy?” the boy answered in a trembling voice.

“Anyone else, any other bad men?”

The boy shook his head no.

Gordon approached the door with ease. His next actions would determine a lot. Scenarios raced through his mind. He didn’t know how the room was laid out. Where was Hunter in there? He couldn’t just open up and blast, he had to be careful and diligent. Putting all the thoughts out of his mind, he grabbed the handle and opened the door.

Outside unknown military installation

“Who are you?” Samantha asked Lexi.

“Who the fuck are you?” she shot back. Her piercing blue eyes darted from Samantha to Nelson. She was looking for anything that seemed out of place.

“I’m Samantha, and this is Nelson. We’re not here to hurt you,” Samantha said softly.

“How do I know that?”

“You don’t, but why else would we shoot that man down there? You needed our help so we helped,” Samantha flatly said.

Lexi stared at Samantha. Her nerves were shot and she was terribly hungry.

Samantha felt bad for this woman before her. She could see the signs of abuse. Bruises covered her face, neck, and arms. She could tell that before the lights went out, Lexi had been an attractive young woman. Samantha guessed that she wasn’t older than thirty. Her hair had been dyed blond, but she now had grown-out brown roots, similar to Samantha’s. It appeared as if her hair had been cut hastily due to it being extremely uneven.

“Why help me?” Lexi asked, curious about why they would put themselves at risk.

“I’ll be honest, because we think my husband and son might be in there.”

“Those people down there are fucked up. They are fucking evil!” Lexi spewed in anger.

“Do you know a Gordon or a Hunter?” Samantha asked urgently.

“Aah, no. Doesn’t sound familiar.”

“Are you sure? We need to know, I need to know,” Samantha pressed. She touched Lexi’s arm, causing her to flinch.

“I told you, no!”

“Please, did you see a man, tall, over six feet—”

“Yeah, about half the men there. Listen, I told you I don’t know a fucking Gordon or Hunter. If they’re down there, they’re fucked. That Rahab is an evil son of bitch,” Lexi interrupted her.

“We have a problem,” Nelson urgently said, looking at the base below.

The Fort Irwin soldiers’ small attack on the base had been a failure. The Humvees that had been part of the attack now sat smoldering.

“How do you think they got those running?” Nelson asked. “And why would they come with only a handful of Hummers? Doesn’t make sense.”

Samantha jumped up and looked at the base below through her binoculars. The chaos and disruption had settled down. Random gunshots could be heard from inside the base.

“Nice meeting you all, but I’m outta here,” Lexi said, attempting to get up.

“Hey, just stay with us, we won’t hurt you. I promise. I need to talk to you more about this place. Please,” Samantha pleaded.

Lexi looked at Samantha squarely. She could see the desperation in her eyes and could sense she was a good woman. “Okay.”

Inside unknown military installation

The scene before Gordon was taken right out of a nightmare.

Jeremy had Hunter in front of him with a large knife under his throat.

Hunter stood silent, but his eyes screamed with terror.

With the typical words from any Hollywood movie, Jeremy shouted, “Stay right there or I’ll kill him.”

Never having been in this situation but always having been a critic of those scenes from movies, Gordon did exactly what he’d always said he would do. He immediately shot Jeremy in the mouth with the rifle. No response to his inane and cliché command. Gordon placed one 5.56-mm round where he knew it would drop the man like a sack of potatoes.

The round traveled the short distance to Jeremy’s spinal cord, and blew out the lower part of his skull. Bloody brain matter splattered the wall behind him. His eyes rolled up inside his head, and he went directly down. The knife fell from his lifeless hand and hit the floor with a clang.

Frozen in fear, Hunter stood unsure what to do.

Gordon slung the rifle and went to him. He knelt and embraced his trembling son. “I’m here, I’m here. Everything will be fine. Let’s go home. Let’s go see Mommy.”

Hunter started to cry intensely. The warm tears fell from his eyes and ran down Gordon’s neck.

“I’ve got you now, it’ll be okay. I promise. Now let’s go.”

San Diego, California

Bishop Sorenson’s funeral had been over for two hours, but Annaliese still sat staring at the pile of dirt that covered his body. Her gaze had been unfettered and focused. Sebastian attempted to talk with her, but she didn’t respond, she just sat staring.