Saul’s face turned. There was no pretense anymore; he was disgusted with her. Sasha didn’t really know why. All she’d done was ask questions. But then Jonah was there, with a hand on Saul’s shoulder and a calm voice in her ear.

“Think of this as a blessing,” said Jonah. “Most people never test the ‘blind’ part of blind faith.”

He was right, darn it. And there was something freeing in the idea of just giving herself up to Providence. She’d done everything God had asked of her. Now he would either deliver her to Zion or the arms of the law. Either way, she’d done everything she could to obey the call of her faith. All the little sins of her life, the cursing and the anger and those dark, gnawing desires she still struggled to tamp down, those would all be forgiven. She was truly giving herself to Christ now, so nothing else mattered.

“You’re right,” she said, “I’m sorry I questioned it. I’ll do whatever it takes to reach the Heavenly Kingdom.”

She took another hard look at the cramped wooden box and the piles of aid supplies surrounding it. How was she going to fit in there?

“Whatever it takes.”

Chapter 7

Manny.

Manny was used to war. He wasn’t quite as used to being on the losing side of one. As chaotic as things got in ciudad de muerta, his guys had always held the upper hand. Manny had come to expect safe supply lines and reliable transport to and from the battlefield. During past offensives, the Martyrs hadn’t controlled the skies.

His first hint that this had changed came when the .50 caliber machine gun atop their transport fired into the sky. It was soon joined by the echoing boom of the lead vehicle’s 20mm cannon, and a sparking whoosh as anti-drone rockets arced up into the sky.

“Nuts!” Reggie yelped as the gunfire jolted him awake. He’d drifted off a half hour or so into the ride. Manny grabbed onto him and looped his own legs around the bench seat for stability. An instant later, the transport veered off of the road and into the high grass surrounding the highway. There was a flash somewhere to the left, followed by the roar and heat of an explosion. When Manny looked back, he saw the smoldering wreckage of one of their escort vehicles.

“Drones!” he shouted into the journalist’s ear over the blistering gunfire.