BW

Sarah looked at Mikes' face, as he drove the horse drawn carriage they were riding in with Tommy and their two other children. Actually it wasn't a carriage. It was a two horse, two person buggy, with a small trailer attached to the rear, which was where the two younger children rode. Tommy was 'riding shotgun', with a real shotgun, on a seat that they had mounted just behind the seat that she and Mike sat in. She noticed that the wound on Mikes' face was almost completely healed now, but it would leave a noticeable scar. Her mind went back involuntarily to the night he had been hurt. The Lord had surely been looking out for them that terrible night.

Gang bangers that had first been driven out of the cities, and then, they felt, betrayed by their leader, Manuel, had barely escaped their pursuers with their lives. Wandering through the countryside, they had stumbled upon the hunting cabin that the family had taken shelter in what seemed like a life time ago. They broke in quietly, intending to steal what they could, and kill any who got in their way. There had been four of them. Mike let them get all the way inside the cabin, before he shot the first time. He killed the last one to come in, somewhat blocking the escape route of the other three. Tommy had fired next, and downed the second from the last. The remaining two went for Mike. Mike had worked the action on his shotgun quickly enough to get another intruder, before the last man reached him. From there the fight was hand to hand. They were too closely locked in fighting for Tommy to get a shot without hitting his father.

The gang banger had pulled a long very sharp knife and slashed at Mikes' body, at the same time, Mike tried to duck under the weapon, and had the side of his face laid open by the blade. He fell backwards away from him, and Tommy ended the fight with a well placed shot.

Sarah decided that the scar was really a badge of honor for her husband. Proving to one and all just how much he loved his family, and how far he would go to take care of them.

They crossed another ridge, following the road the angel had told them to take, and found themselves looking at something none of them expected. Clearly posted on either side of the road were bright orange and black signs, with the words 'Bio-Hazard' clearly printed above a strange looking emblem. Below that was another sign that read 'Quarantine'. From a makeshift shelter on the side of the road, a man in uniform stood up, and walked towards them, holding up his hand for the family to stop.

"What do you think Dad? Do I shoot?"

"Lets' see what he has to say first Son."

The soldier, a Sargent by the stripes on his sleeve, spoke to them.

"Afternoon. Where do you folks think you're headed?"

Mike spoke. "We heard there is a town up ahead where we might be able to find some shelter for awhile."

"Fella, you go down this road much further, and you ain't going to go anyplace else." He hooked a thumb at the sign. "That isn't hanging there for nothing, you know."

Sarah leaned closer to Mike. "Could we have taken a wrong turn?"

"There aren't any turns on this road. We were told to stay on it, no matter what."

"Told? Who told you to do a fool thing like that?" the Sargent asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"The Sargent looked closely at them, then said, "You're Christians, ain't you."

"What if we are?"

"Hey Mister, it don't mean nothing to me, except your stuff. You know the law. If I catch you or kill you, all your stuff is mine."

Mike slowly reached for his pistol. "You want to try it?"

"Who? Me? Do I strike you as a fool? There's more of you than there is of me, and I ain't even got a gun. Besides, I ain't got to try anything. My relief will be here in an hour or so, and I'll just borrow his bio-hazard suit, walk down there and take the stuff you ain't going to need anymore."

"Make sure you stay away from the shelter until we're gone, and we won't hurt you. Tommy, keep you gun on him."

"Yes Sir."

With that, Mike clucked at the horses and slapped the reigns. They began to move foreword.

"Mike? Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

"Honey, I don't believe that the angel would send us to our deaths. We just have to trust The Lord."

"I hope you don't mind me saying I'm still scared."

Mike smiled at his wife. "So was Gideon. You're in good company."

Knowing that a good man with a shotgun could hit targets that most people would consider to far away, the Sargent waited until the family was well out of range, then pulled a radio from his pocket.

"Dad. Are you there?"

"Here Alex. What is it?"

"Looks like we have some Christians coming in."

"You sure about that?"

"They said they were, and I gave them the whole nine yards, and they just went on ahead anyway."

"Yeah, sounds like it. Thanks for the heads up Son."

Bob called Maria to his side, and together they walked to the ridge-line. As they watched the buggy and trailer come towards them, Maria said to him,

"I hope this works out better than the first time we did this."

"Alex says they're Christians, and he is pretty sharp. I'd be willing to bet on it."

"Knowing him, and knowing you, I'm satisfied. But we'd better be careful anyway. You never know."

"Count on it."

Soon the buggy pulled up to them and stopped.

"Howdy." Bob called to them.

"Afternoon." Mike answered.

"Can we help you folks?"

"We're looking for shelter for awhile. Are you going to try to stop us from going into that town?"

"Shelter, or refuge?"

Mikes' eyes narrowed at this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, shelter we can offer." He reached into his shirt, and pulled out a chain with a cross hanging from it. "But for refuge, you need to look to another source."

Seeing the cross, Sarah sighed, leaned over and rested her head on Mikes shoulder saying, "Mike. We made it."

"I think you're right." He answered.

---

It took Director Ives longer than he liked or expected to finally come up with a new strategy. First he had to figure out why the old one was failing. After hearing what some of the surviving infiltrators had to say, it became clear. Now that the master had played the alien card, and that religion had been outlawed, those people were becoming far more cautious about who they trusted. They knew, as he did, that the number of true believers, and those that might become such, was greatly reduced. A group of two or three people suddenly showing up asking questions, no matter how innocent they sounded, simply weren't to be trusted. After all groups of people willing to risk almost certain death to find something to believe in, was a bit suspicious.

So the answer was simple. What he needed was individuals that already knew how to talk the talk, to fool those people into showing themselves. Of course it would require even more incentives to get such people to take the risk of contacting those whom the master hated so much. But incentives could always be found, and after the job was done, there wouldn't be any need to keep any promises he made.

He called in his secretary to explain what he wanted.

---

It had been a couple of weeks since Jim and Sally had shown up, when Alex came to his father. bob was being checked by Kathy for what he hoped was the last time, and he would finally be allowed to actually be allowed to return to work. He found He missed being as physically active as he had been accustomed to being. Maria sat nearby waiting for Kathy to give her verdict.

"Uh, Dad? Can I talk to you?"

"Have I ever been able to stop you?"

"Do you want some privacy, Alex? I'm sure Kathy and I could leave for a few minutes."

"Uh, no. I think maybe you should stay."

"What is it, Son?"

"Um,...Well...Dang this is hard."

"Something wrong Alex?"

"Yes and no. Dad what do you think about Mike, I mean Michelle, not the new guy."

"She's a fine young woman, Son. Why? Is there a problem between you two?"

"Well, it's not exactly a problem."

"SON. Am I going to have to beat this out of you?"

"O.K. She's pregnant, I'm the father, and we want to be married."

Together Bob and Maria responded with a loud, "WHAT!"

"It's true, ask Kathy."

"Kathy?" Maria asked.

"Yes, she is. She says he is,and about four weeks I'd say."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You know about the confidence shared between a doctor and patient. She's a healthy normal adult woman. She has a right to privacy."

"But she's my daughter!"

"And that changes what, exactly?"

"Maria. Give it up now. Kathy takes this kind of thing seriously. You WILL lose."

"I'm not going to give it up. I should have been told."

"That was up to either Mike or Alex. And it seems to me that you just have been told. I have no right to tell anyone anything about the condition of my patients."

"What about family? I had a right to know."

"Only if it was life threatening, and the patient couldn't express their wishes. Mike made her wishes clear to me. So, you weren't told, until now."

"Bob! Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Yes, I'll say two things in fact." He turned to his son. "Congratulations Son. I'm sure you'll be happy together. Have you set a date?"

"We're thinking next Saturday."

"Do you mean you approve of this?"

"Maria, these two may be our children, but they are also adults. They are under no obligation to tell us anything they don't want to tell us. They don't need our approval, and they certainly didn't ask for it. They've made a choice, and like it or not, we have to accept it."

Outnumbered and losing the argument, Maria had no choice but to accept the truth.

"I guess you're right. Its' not like we can undo what's been done. Alex. You better take good care of my girl, or you'll have to deal with me."

"Yes Ma'am, I will. Hey Dad, you said there were two things. What was the other?"

"You're right, I did." Turning to Maria, Bob said, "Well what do you think? Want to make it a double ceremony?"


BW, Vietnam Vet