Chapter 212

Louis felt a punch in his chest. He stumbled back and looked down. The bulletproof vest had absorbed the impact, but the pain was sharp. President Pratt fired again. Another bullet hit his vest, knocking him down. Gladice had already drawn her pistol and fired at President Pratt. His head snapped back, a bloody hole appearing between his eyes. He collapsed onto the floor. The Danites also had their guns out. But two of them pointed their guns at the Prophet King, who had thrown Rachel to the floor and was shielding her.

“Down with the false prophet!” a Danite shouted and fired at the Prophet King. Gladice shot the gunman in the head before he could fire again.

“Get down! Get down!” Louis shouted, as chaos erupted in the room. Maeve threw her knife into the throat of another traitorous Danite. The remaining Danites looked at each other and shouted. “Protect the King! Protect the King!”

Louis stumbled to his feet and drew his pistol. From the second floor above the hall, two other Danites with assault rifles started shooting at the two Danites on Louis’s side. Their bullets shredded them. Louis fired at the shooters, forcing them to take cover. Savannah and Gladice also shot at them. Outside, gunfire erupted. Angelique and Cherish helped the Prophet King and Rachel get up. Blood was spreading across the Prophet King’s robe.

“I got him!” Gladice yelled. A shooter fell down from the second floor. Savannah shot the other one.

“Everyone with me! Now!” Louis yelled, looking at the women and children, who were screaming in panic. “We’re getting out of here!”

Savannah guided the wives and children toward the back entrance of the room. Angelique and Gladice helped the Prophet King to his feet. He was clutching his stomach, his face pale. Cherish grabbed Rachel, who was staring at the President Pratt’s body, her eyes wide with shock.

“Go! Go!” Louis yelled. Willa, Maeve and Donya followed them.

They ran into a hallway. A firefight broke out in the main hall of the temple. Louis saw more bodies of Danites on the floor. Louis pressed his chest, feeling a dull ache. “Captain! Report!”

“The square is under attack,” Yamamoto’s voice came from Louis’s phone. “My team is coming for you!”

The Prophet King stumbled. “Ephraim,” he gasped. “My son.”

“I’m here! Father!” Ephraim shouted from Sister Sarah’s arms, trying to get away.

“We need a medic,” Angelique said. “He’s losing a lot of blood.”

Two Danites appeared at the end of the hallway. They pointed their guns at them. A shot from outside took them both down. The window beside them shattered.

“Stay low!” Louis shouted.

“That’s Petrov,” Willa said. “He’s covering us.”

Yamamoto, Frederick and two other Dominion Guards burst through a side door, their rifles ready. “Sir, this way!”

“Save the king!” Louis said.

Frederick ran to the Prophet King and opened a medical kit. He pressed a bandage on the wound. “Hold on, Your Majesty.”

“Take my family,” the Prophet King gasped. “Please.”

“You are coming with us, Your Majesty,” Angelique said, her voice firm. Frederick and a guard helped the Prophet King walk. Louis looked at crying children and the panicked wives.

“With us, we have a RV outside. Now!” Louis yelled.

Yamamoto led the way. Everyone followed. Louis and the women kept their guns out. Gladice shot an attacker at the intersection. They ran out of a back door of the temple and into the square. Two of their armored SUVs were firing their miniguns toward a building across the square. They arrived at the RV. The door opened.

“In, now!” Louis shouted, gesturing the wives and children to get in.

The women helped the Prophet King’s wives and children board. They pushed and carried them into the RV’s lower bedroom. The Prophet King collapsed on the bed, a spreading stain of red on his robe. His six wives surrounded him, crying. The children were huddled together, weeping. The RV moved out quickly. Bullets hit its side. Frederick continued to work on the Prophet King’s wound. Donya went to the kitchen and came back with a medical kit.

“He needs a hospital,” Donya said, looking at the wound. Her voice shakened.

“We can’t go to a hospital,” the Prophet King gasped, his face ashen. “They will be compromised. Take me to my palace. And protect my family.”

Frederick put a pressure bandage on the wound. “You need surgery, Your Majesty.”

“I will have it,” the Prophet King said. “In my palace. With my own doctors.”

“The Dominion has the best doctors and facilities, Your Majesty,” Louis said. “We can get you a flight to Sacramento right now.”

The Prophet King looked at Louis, his eyes clouded with pain. “And abandon my kingdom and people? I will not. My place is here.”

“No, Father,” Ephraim said, his face wet with tears. “You need to live. For us. For the Kingdom.”

Louis stared at the Prophet King. “You are not going to abandon your kingdom. You are going to survive this and come back. Do you hear me?”

The Prophet King’s breathing was shallow. “Who did this? Who sent him?”

“Brother John! I’m going to kill him!” Louis said, yelling at the front. “We are going to the airport! Captain!”

“Yes, sir!” Yamamoto’s voice came.

“Willa, call my father!” Louis said. “Tell him we have the Prophet King, and he’s been shot. We need air support and a medical team, now.”

Willa took out her phone. “On it.”

The Prophet King looked at Louis. “My son… Ephraim… he is the heir.” He closed his eyes. Frederick put an oxygen mask over his face.

Sister Sarah knelt by the bed. “Your Majesty. Joseph.” Her tears fell on his robe. She looked at Louis. “I need to go back to the palace. Some of our children are still there with their nannies.”

“We will get them, Sister Sarah,” Angelique said, her voice calm. “After we get your husband to safety.”

“Please,” Sister Sarah said, her eyes pleading.

“Yamamoto, dispatch another team to the palace,” Louis said. “Get the rest of the children.”

“Negative, sir,” Yamamoto’s voice came. “We don’t have enough men. Our rendezvous point is at the airport. That is our priority.”

“Damn it,” Louis said.

“The palace is not safe,” Sister Abigail said, her face pale. “The attackers will go there. To eliminate the rest of the line.”

“Then we have to assume they are already compromised,” Savannah said, her eyes on the Prophet King.

Louis looked at Sister Sarah. “We will go there after we send the rest of you to safety.”

Sister Sarah’s face was torn. “I have a duty as a mother.”

“Then stay with us,” Angelique said. “And we will fulfill your duty with you.”

Sister Sarah nodded. “I will.”

Constantine’s voice came over the RV’s speakers. “Louis, report.”

“Dad, the Prophet King is shot. We are heading to the airport,” Louis said. “We have his wives and children with us. We need a medical team and an escort. We are not sure how many attackers are there.”

“Understood,” Constantine said. “I have ordered our air force to secure the airport. The nearest air base is in Nevada. They are on their way. A medical team will be there too. Be safe, son.”

“We will, Dad,” Louis said, hanging up. He sat on the sofa, feeling the ache in his chest. He unzipped his jacket and took off the vest. Two deep red welts were already forming on his chest. Angelique ran back from the kitchen with a cold compress.

“You’re hurt,” she said, pressing it against his chest.

“I’m fine,” Louis said. “The vest did its job.”

“Still,” Angelique said. “Let me check.”

She lifted his shirt and gently prodded the bruises. Louis winced. “It’s just bruised, I think.”

“Let’s hope so,” Angelique said.

Rachel stared at Louis. “I don’t understand.” She began to cry. “Why would anyone do this? We were in the House of the Lord.”

“Because Brother John betrayed you,” Louis said. “He tried to kill me. And he tried to kill your king.”

“Brother John?” Rachel’s face was confused. “But he’s a good man. He told me so himself.”

“He’s a liar,” Louis said. “He used you. Haven’t you seen the truth? He tried to kill the man you were about to marry! And he tried to kill me too!”

“I don’t believe you!” Rachel shouted, her eyes wild with panic. “He’s a servant of the Lord. He saved me from sin. He wouldn’t do this.”

“He did, Rachel,” Cherish said, gently. “We were there. We saw it.”

Rachel shook her head. “No, no, no, no!”

Louis looked at Frederick. “Give her a dose of tranquilizer. A mild one. She needs to calm down.”

Frederick nodded and prepared a syringe. He approached Rachel. “It’s for your own good, ma’am.”

Rachel recoiled. “Get away from me! Get away from me!”

Frederick moved quickly. He administered the injection. Rachel’s eyes fluttered. She leaned against Cherish, who wrapped her arms around her. “It’s okay, Rachel. It’s okay.”

Rachel’s breathing slowed. She looked at Cherish, her eyes hazy. “Sister?”

“Yes, Rachel,” Cherish said, stroking her hair.

“I’m scared,” Rachel whispered.

“I know,” Cherish said. “I am too. But we are here with you.”

Rachel closed her eyes. She was asleep.

“Thank you, Cherry,” Louis said, trying to ignore the throbbing in his chest. Sister Naomi was shaking and crying. Sister Abigail was trying to comfort her. Sister Mary and Sister Leah were praying. The other children were still crying, huddled together.

“I should have seen it,” the Prophet King whispered, the oxygen mask distorting his words. “I should have known.”

“Don’t talk, Your Majesty,” Donya said, checking his bandage. “Save your strength.”

The Prophet King nodded, his eyes closing. He was breathing with difficulty.

“We’re almost there, sir,” Yamamoto’s voice came. “Five minutes to the airport. We’re expecting hostiles. Be ready.”

“Understood,” Louis said. Willa brought a bag of spare magazines for their pistols. Louis took one and reloaded his pistol. The others did the same.

“I’ll drive,” Maeve said, her eyes on the road. “I’m better at it than autopilot in this situation.”

Louis nodded. “Alright. Be careful.” He buttoned his shirt and put the bulletproof vest back on.

Zhang’s SUV joined the convoy, falling in behind them. Maeve took the controls as the convoy approached the airport’s entrance, a high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. The gate was closed. The leading SUV rammed it. The convoy sped onto the tarmac. A few bullets hit the RV.

Louis turned on the RV’s speaker system. “Listen up! Your king and his family are with us. Stop shooting! If you continue to fire, we will return fire!”

The shooting stopped.

“Sir, we have a problem,” Yamamoto’s voice came. “They have anti-aircraft missiles. And they are aiming at our plane.”

“Where’s our air support?” Louis asked.

“They’re coming, sir. But they’ll need a few minutes.”

Louis looked at the Prophet King, who was barely conscious. He looked at Ephraim, who was staring at his father. “Order your men to stand down.”

Ephraim looked at Louis, then at the Prophet King. He nodded. “Yes, sir.” He shouted to the speaker. “This is Ephraim Taylor, son of the Prophet King. Stand down! All Legion and Danite forces, stand down! I command you in the name of the king to stand down!”

No one answered.

Louis sighed. “Yamamoto, I’m authorizing air strikes of the anti-aircraft missile sites. I will take full responsibility. And get Robin on the line.”

“Understood,” Yamamoto said.

A few seconds later, Robin’s face appeared on the RV’s screen. “Louis, what the hell is going on? I’m hearing you have the Prophet King with you.”

“Long story,” Louis said. “Get everyone ready. It’s going to be a hot extraction.”

“Roger that,” Robin said.

A sonic boom roared over the airport. A Dominion Onyx fighter jet screamed past, followed by another one. They were flying low and fast. Explosions erupted in the distance. Two missiles rose from the ground, the jets evaded them, and fired back. The missile sites blew up in balls of fire.

“Airport is clear!” Robin’s voice came. “We are landing in two minutes.”

“Good,” Louis said. “Tell your medics to be ready. We have a critical patient.”

“Understood,” Robin said.

A Dominator-2 descended, its engines screaming. It landed on the runway and taxied towards them. The ramp lowered. A group of Dominion Guard soldiers in combat gear ran out, followed by a medical team with a stretcher.

“Let’s move!” Louis yelled. The RV door opened. “Everyone get on that plane.”

The Dominion soldiers and the women helped the Prophet King’s wives and children board the plane. They carried the Prophet King on the stretcher. The medics immediately began working on him, inserting IV lines and checking his vitals.

“Go! Go! Go!” Louis shouted. The Dominion soldiers fired at a few attackers who were shooting from the terminal building. The RV and the four SUVs provided cover. One of their jets returned and strafed the terminal. The shooting stopped.

“Sir, we are ready for takeoff,” a pilot’s voice came. “We need to go now.”

“Get everyone on board,” Louis said.

Sister Sarah stayed in the RV, her face pale. “I am not leaving without my children.”

“Then stay. We are going for them,” Louis said.

“You can’t be serious,” Robin’s voice came. “The palace will be a fortress of hostiles by now. The capital is in chaos.”

“I made a promise,” Louis said. “And I intend to keep it.” He looked at Angelique and the others. “We’re going to the palace.”

“What about Sterling?” Willa asked.

Zhang’s voice came from the speaker. “We have already secured him in the plane, ma’am.”

“Good,” Louis said. “Let’s move out.”

Robin entered the RV with several of his men. “Louis, you’re out of your mind.”

“Maybe,” Louis said. “But I’m not leaving a mother to lose her children.”

Robin sighed. “Fine. My team and I are going with you.” He spoke to his comms. “Sergeant Owen, take command of the Dominator. Take off now. Get the Prophet King to Sacramento. And secure the rest of the family.”

“Roger that, sir,” a voice replied.

The Dominator’s ramp lifted. Its engines roared. It sped down the runway and lifted into the darkening sky. Louis looked at Sister Sarah. “Now, let’s get your children.”