Page 29 of Zero Visibility

“We’ve got to get rid of him. I’m going to try and lose him, but that pilot is good.” Lincoln glanced at Ben, lines framing his lips. “It’s a long shot.”

Which meant, they might not survive. If they were going to die, he wanted to be with his wife. He returned to Jen’s side and knelt beside her.

Anger boiled inside of him as he watched his precious wife. The people they were battling were evil. Ben believed they wrestled not against flesh and blood, but against the dark works of Satan himself.

???

Noises all around. Loud. Scary. But darkness was all she saw. Jen struggled to remember what happened. The plane. The frantic rush to get onboard. Then blackness grabbed her and held her captive. Soon all thoughts went away, and she returned to the arms of nothingness.

Time passed. She had no idea how much. The voices were close. One she recognized pulled her away from the dark place. She fought to be free of it. Struggled to open her eyes.

“Jen, wake up.” Ben.

“Ben?” She said his name in her head and pulled her eyes open. Her vision slowly cleared. His handsome face filled her line of sight. “What happened? The baby?” she asked as a dreadful thought occurred.

He smiled as she recognized him. “I’m glad you’re back.” He reached for her hand. “You’re on the plane. Everett has you stabilized and the baby’s fine.”

But something was wrong. “Tell me,” she said. “No more secrets.”

His face twisted in pain. “No more secrets. We’re being chased by a fighter jet sent to take us down. We can’t fly to the compound. We’ll be leading them straight to our people there.”

They’d come so far. Fought insurmountable odds to get here, and now they’d run into yet another obstacle.

Jen was weary of fighting down to her soul. She clung to God’s promises while desperate to reach a safe place for her child. But she wasn’t about to let Ben see she was falling apart. “What can we do?” She focused on his face and did her best to keep the fear inside.

“Lincoln’s trying to lose the jet. If he can, Cole knows some people not too far from the compound. We’ll fly onto their ranch and get a vehicle to drive the rest of the way. To safety.”

“It sounds simple, but you don’t appear confident.”

Ben smiled. “That’s because I’m not. It’s a longshot, Jen. One of the jets didn’t make it, but this one, well, the pilot’s hanging with us. We’ve lost two engines already. We can’t afford to lose another.”

He’d promised to be honest with her. She’d stay strong enough to take it.

“And if that happens?” She had to know the worst-case scenario.

“We’ll crash. We could die.”

A single tear slipped from her eye.Not like this.Never like this.

He held her hand and she kept her eyes on him. As long as she could see Ben, she’d be okay.

The plane flew steady. Then the pilot abruptly flipped it on its side. Everything tumbled right. She slid toward the seats. Ben jumped between them to protect her.

“We’re hit!” Lincoln shouted. “We’re going down. Brace.”

Ben gathered her close and held her tight while the plane hit the top of the trees hard. The noise of branches and limbs slapping the side as they sank to the ground.

Jen hugged Ben tight and prayed with all her heart. The plane hit the ground and plowed forward. Someone screamed. Several people prayed aloud as the plane continued to bulldoze trees.

With her eyes squeezed shut, Jen tried to shut out the noise and kept praying.Help us, Lord. Please help Lincoln control the plane enough to land it safely.

As if in answer to the prayers, the plane shuddered to a violent stop. The fighter jet flew overhead. The roar of noise ended abruptly.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked her. She had no idea. Ben laid her gently on the floor. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He checked on Everett and Nancy. “Are you hurt?”

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