Part 4 Remember

Savalli began,

 “My home was in Wrightsville, North Carolina; a small bedroom community just north of Elizabeth City. It was early Sunday morning; I was standing on my back porch enjoying the clean brisk air and a hot cup of coffee. I remember thinking that it seemed so quiet that morning when suddenly I heard the sound of guns. It was far off and I wasn’t sure that it was gunfire. But the rapid dull thump, thump, thump continued. It was a sound I had not heard in many years. As a young man I had served in the army, during training I heard that same sound coming from the firing range every day for two months, thump, thump, thump, as soldiers fired their weapons. The longer the sound continued that morning the more certain I became that it was gunfire. A sinking feeling came over me. It was too much gunfire to be a hunter or even a group of hunters. And there are no no firing ranges anywhere close to Wrightsville. The sound came from the direction of Elizabeth City, a place where so many from my congregation lived. It was too early on Sunday morning to believe that they would have already left their homes to drive north to the church in Wrightsville. I looked across the street where the small church building was, the parking lot was empty. I looked up and down the street, I saw no one else. I went back into the house and turned the television on, tuning it to the local news channel. I was greeted by a blank screen, nothing. I ran into the kitchen and turned on the radio that always sat on the counter. Only static filled the room. The sinking feeling was overwhelming, causing my knees to buckle. I knelt on the cold floor and began to pray.”

Leila asked him, “Were you a preacher?”

“I was.” Savalli took a sip of his water and then continued.

“The Intaha terrorist group had invaded the world, including our own little community. These were bad, bad men. They make the Taliban and Al-Qaeda seem like schoolyard bullies. They were well organized, intelligent, they planned everything. Some believe they may have begun the plans of attack more than thirty years earlier. Even before that saxophone playing Billy-Bob from Arkansas was president."

" They had infiltrated the infrastructure of the United States and Europe. Over the years they had integrated themselves into commerce, the education system and even the military. Two of them had actually been elected governors and one a prime minister. The lived among us as neighbors and friends. They were doctors who delivered our children and cared of our elderly. They were presidents and C.E.O.’s of companies we trusted, businesses we traded with. They had entered every part of society except our churches. Their radical beliefs prevented them from going that far, it seems kind of funny. They manipulated world governments, right under our very noses. They caused division in Muslim countries knowing that the world powers, the US and Britain would intervene. After the incumbents were ousted by the world morality police the Intaha would move into power. All the while causing divisions in the US and Europe as citizens argued over the decisions to intervene. People were upset that we had interfered, others were upset that we hadn’t done enough. Russia adopted a threatening stance for the first time on many years; another cold war was on the horizon."   

"The Intaha patiently waited, watching for the time to be right. And then when the internal strife on our own soil  escalated to a point approaching civil unrest the terrorists moved swiftly. They shut down our communication highways. They destroyed our transport systems. Financial markets crashed overnight. Every one of these events was caused by Intaha operatives, men and women that had lived amongst us for years. Elizabeth City was attacked by ground troops that had moved in from the seafront. But large cities, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, they were attacked from air. CWA’s, chemical weapons, containing sarin and soman gases were dropped over and over. Millions of people died. Overseas, in parts of Africa and the Far East the terrorist didn’t bother with ground troops or chemical weapons, they dropped nuclear weapons, weapons they had obtained while acting as inspectors for the United Nations! I understand that South America was completely destroyed, uninhabitable.”

“How did anyone survive? Why didn’t anyone see this coming?” Rockrider asked.

“Many that survived were by design, others by blessing. The Intaha had calculated the perfect attack. It is hard for you to understand because you do not know what the world was like before the invasion. The primary target was the United States, a country steeped in tradition and pride. But our government had begun its own destructive plan, causing divisions beyond that of political beliefs. Class warfare was rampant; discrimination was encouraged instead of shunned. Our attention was turned inward ignoring those that lived to destroy this great nation. Their plan was masterful, it took decades to device. Could we have seen it coming? I don’t know. I hate to believe that the answer may be yes.”

Leila looked at the old man. A single tear was running down his cheek.

“I had hid inside my home that morning. I didn’t know anything about the terrorists or their masterful plot at that time, but I had never been so afraid. The gunfire has ceased after about three hours. The enemy had not advanced into Wrightsville for whatever reason. I finally was able to build up enough courage to go outside. Small groups of people were gathered together in the streets all of them looking southeast. I recognized a few people that had huddled together in the church parking lot so I headed there. Two of them had come from Elizabeth City that morning, they told me about the invasion. They spoke of the horror that had taken place as the sun was rising. I suggested that we move into the church in case the enemy was making their way to our small community. That group and two others, a total of about thirty people followed my lead inside. More stories were exchanged, much of it was assumptive or rumors retold. One of the men, I believe his name was Flores, was a cameraman for the local Fox network. He told us that before the radios went out he had heard that the attacks were global. He was the first to mention nuclear warfare but was not certain of targets. Someone asked him about our own armed forces, where were they, what were they doing. He said that as he left Elizabeth City he had spotted fighters crossing the sky, he thought they were headed to Washington D.C.”

Savalli looked out the window at the falling rain. After a moment he continued,

“Our conversations were interrupted by the sound of gunfire. This time there was no mistaking it, it was too close. I could hear people screaming and others barking orders in a language I could not understand. I told everyone to lie on the floor; I didn’t know what else to do. Except to pray; I shut my eyes tight and began praying like this old preacher had never done before. The gunfire continued for more than an hour, mercifully the screams ended long before that. We stayed on the floor, silent, until nightfall. Some had fallen asleep, others cried and some prayed, barely audible. The Intaha never entered the church, not our church or any other as far as I can tell. I believe it was God’s protection that kept evil away. These men were evil, no respecter of man or god. It could only be God that would keep them away.”

Leila said, “Amen.”

The old preacher smiled, “I haven’t heard that word in so long.” He continued his story after taking a sip of water.

“Two days passed before we left the protection of the church. No gunfire or voices had been heard in over twenty four hours. We had decided to try and gather some supplies and head toward the mountains. Along the way two more small groups joined ours. New information was exchanged; more horror stories and rumors. One of the groups included three small children, a baby and four teenagers. I was concerned that they would slow us down once we reached the mountains; I was even more concerned about how we would protect them in the event of an attack. As it turned out the teenaged boys were one of our greatest assets.”

Rockrider asked, “How did you know that no one in the group was part of the terrorist group?”

Savalli paused and looked at Leila, “You could see it in their faces.” He continued, “There was a young man named Saied Badini, he was from Atlanta, born and raised in the U.S.A. His parents were from Pakistan. Many in the group were hesitant to associate with him at first, call it profiling if you like. Under the circumstances Saied understood and took it very well. He too turned out to be great asset to the group when we started venturing outside the camp. He was able to go into places that we wouldn’t have been able to without raising suspicions, possibly risking our lives. But I am getting ahead of myself.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting, please continue.” Rockrider said.

“No my dear boy, ask questions whenever you like. It is important that you understand the past. You may have to tell this story yourself one day.”

Rockrider looked at his grandmother with a quizzical look on his face; she smiled at him and patted his hand. She remembered Savalli speaking of his search for someone to carry on.

Savalli returned to his story, “There were so many questions we did not have answers to. Many days passed before other travelers came through the camp. We heard stories that the invasion had destroyed most of the world, of course that turned out to be untrue. There was also word going through the camp that groups of resistance fighters were beginning to form. Because most major cities had been targeted smaller towns were being used as camps for the fighters. Jamestown, Colorado was the camp furthest west. Another camp was in Sunburst, Montana. The resistance fighters from Canada had gathered there with the American fighters. Vega, Texas was said to have the largest group of fighters, and finally St. George, Vermont, the small town that would become my home for almost a year.”

His story was interrupted once again, this time by a loud clap of thunder. Titus whined and the curled into a tight ball. The old man whispered a single word that only the dog heard and Titus seemed to relax. Rockrider watched this exchange with fascination and a sense of loss. In that quick moment it became crystal clear who the dog belonged to.

Leila asked Savalli, “Why were you in Vermont? That is a long way from Elizabeth City.”

The old man smiled at Leila, “I need to take a quick break, too much water. The short answer to your question... that was where God lead me to look for her.”