Chapter 158

0735 hours, local time
Monday, 11 August, 2014
The Dorena-Hickman Ferry
Hickman, Kentucky

“Oh, so you’re the famous Prophet, Adam Clarke, and this is your little caravan, eh? Pathetic and disappointing, in fact. I had hopes for more of a competent enemy in you, but alas, you travel openly in the nude with a bunch of obvious civilians and non-combatants. You’re clearly not as tough as you seem to believe. Still, if you pay the toll, you will be granted passage on the Ferry across the fucking Mississippi River into Missouri. If you don’t, you are stuck on this side and that might be only the beginning of the bad news for you and your big, happy family!” the heavily armed thug at the docks of the Dorena-Hickman Ferry threatened me now.

I smirked and drew my 1911 model Colt .45 pistol, even as the man in question fired his TEC-9 submachine gun at me and the others. The man panicked as he realized that I didn’t even feel a thing from the multiple rounds that should have stitched me up by now. Not having to fear death, I coolly stood fired off three shots into the center of mass, of course. Then he collapsed as my own bullets entered him with such power, typical of the force of the ammunition. Three cartridges all ripped into his flesh at once, killing him instantly.

Witnesses to how coldly I had executed their fearless leader, the other goons retreated from the docks for the present, giving us a wide berth for now. I stood guard for the moment along with Yitzhak and Till while Barry and Ryan kept their eyes on the other bank, just in case. The first vehicles got across without incident at least, making it safely into the Show Me State. Ryan and Barry were naturally aboard them in order to act as protectors of their chosen buses.

Xia Delan, Hannah, Autumn, Bonnie, Raquel, Becca, Sardha, Leah, Tara, Kelly, Kylie, Stacy, Evie, Diana, Sarai, Charity, Cassandra, Miranda, Emma, Natalie, Jessica, Julie, Stephanie, Tania, Vera, Athenais, Tina, Lindsay, Dawn, Arsinoe, Penny, Loretta, Lorraine, and Robin all made their way to the other side of the great Mississippi River before there was any further trouble, safe from the Brady Gang at least. The babies all made the trip safely as well, protecting my legacy and my progeny, if nothing else.

That was when all hell broke loose, of course, three dozen pricks in gun trucks, Humvees, Jeeps, and ATVs who reminded me of Somali technicals in downtown Mogadishu hitting us with extreme prejudice. I simply switched out my 1911 for an AK-47 and attached a rifle grenade to do maximum damage without resorting to my staff yet. Yitzhak mowed three goons down quickly with an older model Israeli assault rifle, the Galil. Till used a Mosin-Nagant to snipe at the punks from a greater distance, almost at the water’s edge to achieve this feat. He picked off two guys in just five minutes, leaving no doubt of his marksmanship skills.

“Till, get the next bus across and then snipe from there. Less danger to you and to them that way,” I instructed Till, who agreed mostly because I was the boss and he wanted to safeguard the ladies.

His own safety was far less of a priority for him right then and there. The dude had already lost an arm, only to have it miraculously restored to him, after all. He led the next vehicle onto the ferry, thus delivering Stacey, Wendy, Mary, Stevie, Elaine, Elise, Ashley, Paula, Gina, Erica, Delta, Regina, Adelaide, Doreen, Melusine, Wanda, Rani, Abigail, Billie, Petra, Envy, Karen, Ivy, Marina, Lynne, Quinoa, and Janice to the other bank now. This was definitely progress, securing the bulk of the family by now. Surprisingly few remained to be transported to the other bank.