A NOVEL ─ THE ADVENTURES OF KEVIN KRAMER IN COMMUNIST EUROPE ─ A Novel about the End Times ─ Chapter 9 ─ "The Trap"

(Click here for the previous chapter. ◄► Click here for the next chapter.)
➽ Or, Click here for Chapter 1. 
Right click the link and select "Open link in new tab."

_________

The Adventures of Kevin Krämer in Communist Europe

- The Escape from Communist Europe -

 (A Novel about the End Times)

By: Justin Brown (a pen name)

Recommended reading for ages 14 and older.

This is a novel for teens and adults.

This novel contains some violence (such as gunshots and fights); intense chase scenes;

clean romantic elements (i.e. clean conversations between a guy and his girlfriend);

 and themes appropriate for teenagers and adults.

You will not find any profanity, immorality, or gore in this novel.

It is written to edify the reader, and not to provoke sinful thoughts.

This story is free to be copied, printed, and distributed, but it must remain unaltered.

_________________________

Synopsis

Europe has been invaded, the superpower across the sea is no more, and the country of "Baltania" is controlling Europe through communistic puppet governments. Under the oppressive cloud of communism, a small group of underground Christians faces a powerful crime organization bent on their capture and destruction. 

Under this heavy, oppressive cloak, Kevin Kramer, a 30-year-old, and Maritza, his attractive, 27-year-old girlfriend, must decide who they will serve as they fall in love with each other, start a romantic relationship, and try to evade the unrelenting and dangerous members of a criminal organization, which seeks to kidnap underground Christians to sell to the secret police.

Together with some friends, Kevin and Maritza must do their best to avoid being captured as they learn to trust God and follow His guiding hand in these last days just before the rise of the Antichrist. This fast-paced story is designed to be fascinating. But, don't just take our word for it... 

[Note: Baltania is a fictional country within the Eurasian land mass. At one time, it had a communistic past. During a third world war, communism revived in this country as it's armies conquered Europe. Since we do not want to point fingers at any particular country, we will not name this country or coalition of countries.]

 _________________________

Chapter 9

"The Trap"

(Click here to open a list of links to chapters. 
Right click the link and select "Open link in new tab.")

___________________

Konrad’s Rental Car

“Konrad, I’m so glad to see you,” Maritza said from the back seat of the blue Delta Solarstorm sedan. They were driving through the streets of Kühnburg, Germany and were navigating their way through residential neighborhoods.

“I’m glad I came when I did,” Konrad said from the driver’s seat. The Nigerian’s short, bushy hair was concealed under a green baseball cap. But, his short sideburns appeared beneath the hat.

“How did you know to pick us up? We didn’t call you,” Kevin said, leaning forward in his seat which was directly behind Konrad.

“I had rented this car to use today and was doing some errands when I heard God telling me to drive over to the apartment complex adjacent to Maritza’s apartment building. I obeyed God and arrived just in time to see both of you being chased by three men. Who were they?”

“I believe they work with an evil crook and my former friend Dietmar,” Kevin said.

“Have you ever heard of the Red Venom* organization?” Konrad said. [* Note: This is fictional.]

Maritza and Kevin leaned forward and Kevin said, “No. What is it?”

“It is a trafficking ring which is also involved in other evil activities,” Konrad said.

“Like what?” Maritza said.

“Taking hostages for ransom money, extortion, money laundering, armed robbery, trafficking, selling narcotics, and other evil things,” Konrad said. “That is what they do.”

“I’ve never heard about them before,” Maritza said. “Where did you learn about them?”

“I went on the internet at a coffee shop,” Konrad said. “I have a laptop, but I only use it when I have internet access or for writing down my thoughts.”

“Do they operate in this area? Are those crooks who chased us connected to this Red Venom organization?” Kevin said.

“I think they very well could be,” Konrad said. “I learned that they have secret locations in nearly every large town in Europe.”

“Kevin, do you see that white van?” Maritza said suddenly as she turned in her seat and pointed out the window, to Kevin’s left.

(Click on this link to read brief descriptions
about some of the characters from this novel.)

The blue Delta Solarstorm rental car had just passed a narrow street on their left. Immediately after they had passed it, a white delivery van had pulled out from the side street and began to follow them.

Kevin turned in his seat and looked out the rear window. He could clearly see the white van with two men sitting in the front seats. They were wearing blue baseball caps and blue collared shirts. ‘The fake plumbers,’ he thought anxiously. ‘They haven’t stopped chasing us.’

Kevin watched as one crook rolled down his window on the passenger’s side. The man drew out a silenced pistol and leaned out the open window with his gun. It was clear what he intended to do. Konrad, glancing at his rearview mirrors, accelerated the car, trying to increase the distance between them and the gunman. But, the van accelerated too.

Maritza, seeing the terrifying situation through the rear window, began to pray. “Dear Father God,” she said silently, “I pray that you will deliver us from these criminals and bring us to safety. Blind their eyes, Father God. Blind them so that they will not see us, and so we can escape, I pray. I trust you to protect us, Father.

“But, Father God,” she added, “I realize I should have listened to your Spirit when you prompted me to leave the apartment about five minutes earlier than I did. I should have left the building when you said, even though I had wanted to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. So, I am sorry for that, and I want to follow your Spirit better. But, I ask you to deliver us. And, I trust my life into your hands. In Jesus Christ’s name, amen.”

Pow! Pow! The silenced pistol fired off two shots, which struck the asphalt near the rear tires of the Delta Solarstorm, missing the tires by a few centimeters.

Kevin turned to see where the crook was firing his gun, and realized that the man was trying to bring the car to a stop by popping its tires. ‘This is not good,’ he thought. Then, he prayed, saying, “Father God, please keep these tires from being popped and protect us from these bullets.”

Konrad slowed the car and turned into a street, to the right, that formed a T-intersection with the road he was traveling down. But, the van followed him in the turn. It was not going to let them get away easily, and Kevin realized that fact more clearly when he thought about the determination he had seen in the faces of the fake plumbers.

Pow! Pow! Pow! Three suppressed gunshots erupted from the crook’s silenced pistol. All three struck the road, again missing the rear tires.

Konrad shoved the pedal to the floor and the blue Delta Solarstorm roared off, quickly gaining speed. The van also accelerated, reaching 91 kilometers per hour.* [* Or, about 57 mph.]

__  __  __  __

In the White Van

While Scorpion drove the white panel van, Python leaned out the front passenger window and attempted to hit the rear tires of the blond-haired girl’s escape car. His shots were missing the rear tires by centimeters. Seeing that was aggravating to the tough, muscular, short-haired crook. He had been trained at shooting while in a moving vehicle. ‘Surely, I can do better than this,’ Python thought.

“The boss will kill us if we fail him on this mission,” Scorpion said, glancing at the tough-looking, dark-haired, German man who was simply called Python. Python’s rugged, chiseled-looking face, muscular chest, and strong forearms gave Scorpion the impression that this man could possibly kill a lion with his bare hands.

“Not literally kill us, but I know what you mean. Claw will possibly demote us and dock our pay for at least a month, if we fail this mission, or he may not,” Python said. Then, he added: “But, we won’t fail him.”

(Some conversions between
metric units and English-system units)
Right click the picture and select "Open link in new tab."

Python glanced at the man sitting before the steering wheel. Scorpion was a bald, athletic man, but was thinner than Python, somewhat wiry, and agile. Python sometimes called him “Tabby Cat” as an insult. But, Scorpion would often retort with another insult: “Snake Tongue.”

“Just shoot through their rear window. That should make them stop,” Scorpion said.

“Good idea, Tabby Cat,” Python said, glancing at his comrade to see his reaction.

“Hey, this is no time for insults, Snake Tongue,” Scorpion said.

“Snake Tongue yourself,” Python said, glaring at the other man. “I’d like to challenge you to a boxing match to see if you’re strong enough to beat me, for once, at boxing.”

“Hey, just because you’re better at boxing doesn’t mean I can’t beat you in other games,” Scorpion said, glancing at the larger man. “Remember how I beat you at street fighting when we used rubber knives?”

“Yeah, but I was just being easy on you,” Python said, gloatingly, as he glanced at the driver.

“You liar, you know that’s not true,” Scorpion said angrily as he turned his head toward the muscular man who was glancing at him with a crooked grin.

“Watch where you’re going!” Python suddenly shouted.

The white van had just swerved into the wrong lane and was charging straight toward a full dump truck. Cranking the wheel hard to steer him out of the way of the larger rig, Scorpion brought the van back into the right lane, but the van was now shooting straight toward the sidewalk and toward a large tree. Scorpion was going too fast to stop or correct his course.

With a crash of crumpling steel and shattering glass, the panel van slammed into the tree. The two men were thrown forward, but airbags and seatbelts quickly stopped their forward motion. Python felt his heart throbbing in his chest. He blinked several times and looked around. The grey airbags were starting to deflate. His comrade was at the wheel and was slowly regaining consciousness from having blacked out.

Python popped his door open in time to hear a siren coming from a couple blocks away. The van was ruined, but he was still in good enough health to go on foot. He would leave Scorpion to deal with the police. Under no circumstances was he going to let the blond-haired girl and her friends escape, if he could help it.

He drew out his smartphone and pulled up a picture of the rear license plate of the blue Delta Solarstorm he had been shooting at. Earlier, he had snapped a quick series of photos of the car and its license plates as it had driven out of the parking lot of the apartment complex.

___________________

Driving through a Forest

“How far have we gone?” Maritza said from the back seat of Konrad Adebayo’s blue Delta Solarstorm rental car.

A forested landscape passed by on both sides of the road, and afternoon sunlight shone through the pine trees and cast shadows below multitudes of woody pillars. It was scenic and Kevin enjoyed the chance to relax and think about his future. Though he lived in a very difficult time, he was enjoying God’s presence and love. And, he looked forward to spending more time with Maritza.

Konrad glanced back toward her from the driver’s seat. “We’ve been driving for an hour.”

“I saw a few military trucks,” Maritza said. “Do you think they’re looking for underground Christians?”

“I don’t know what they’re for, but Baltania and its puppet government want to make sure they have a firm grip on this country,” Konrad said.

“Those two thugs who were dressed as plumbers must be determined to kidnap us,” Kevin said, glancing at Maritza.

“I believe they are part of the Red Venom organization, and they will definitely want to capture us, or kill us if they can’t capture us,” Konrad said. “We have to follow the leading of God’s Spirit. If we resist Him, and don’t listen to His guiding voice, we will be out of His best will.”

“Is there a verse for that?” Kevin said.

“Yes. Galatians 5:16-18 speaks about it,” Konrad said.

“What does it say?”

“I memorized it, so I can quote it for you now,” Konrad said. “Galatians 5:16-18 says: ‘[16] This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. [17] For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. [18] But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’"

“That makes me think that I haven’t really followed God’s Spirit as much as I should,” Kevin said.

Maritza nodded and looked down at the floor. “I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble if I had listened to God when He had showed me to leave the apartment much sooner. And, if I had obey God when He had convicted me to go back through the city park, instead of onto the street the time when the blond crook chased me, then I wouldn’t have had such a close call.”

“God showed you to leave the apartment much sooner?” Kevin said.

“Yes. I had a strong feeling in the apartment that I now believe was God showing me to leave, even while the others were still there,” Maritza said.

“That’s interesting because I also had felt strongly that I should have had both of us leave the apartment about five minutes earlier,” Kevin said.

“It’s important to follow God’s Spirit,” Konrad said. “You will save yourself a lot of problems if you obey His direction and listen to His Spirit speak to you. But, it is important to remember that God will never contradict the Bible, His holy Word. And, God will never tell you to do something that is wrong or that is against the Bible.”

“That’s a good point,” Kevin said, thoughtful.

“Oh look,” Maritza said pointing. “There’s a roadblock up ahead.”

“I see that. It’s about 50 or so meters* up the road,” Konrad said. [* Or about 164 feet.]

Kevin looked through the front window and his eyes opened wider. He could see a six-wheeled, armored, troop-transport truck, painted with forest camouflaged, parked across the road. Three metal oil drums were positioned in front of the truck to block the rest of the road. It would be impossible to get around the truck without hitting its rear bumper or the metal drums. Kevin suspected that the drums were filled with something to make them heavier, so knocking them over wasn’t an option.

As they approached the blockade, Kevin noticed some armed soldiers walking in the woods near the edges of the road. He had no idea what they were doing.

“Konrad, my son,” God’s voice spoke to Konrad’s spirit.

“Yes, Abba Father?” Konrad said silently as he slowed the vehicle.

“I want you to turn around,” God’s quiet voice said, “and I will show you to leave the car by the side of the road and just make your way through the forest on foot. You will arrive at your destination after a day’s worth of hiking. Don’t fear, for I am with you. Your enemies will not be able to harm you. But, they will be able to harm those who resist My will. Nonetheless, I will protect those who look to Me and turn to Me. And, I the Lord your God and Abba Father have spoken.”

Konrad thanked Abba God and glanced back as his passengers. “Maritza and Kevin, we’re going to turn around,” Konrad said. “God was showing me to take us back down the road, and then pull off onto the side at some point. From there, we will hike until we reach Daniel and Monika’s property.”

Konrad slowed the car and did a U-turn. Now, the car was facing the opposite direction and it began to accelerate back down the stretch of road they had just traveled. As they drove, a black delivery van passed them and a small camera mounted on the dashboard of the van snapped a quick series of pictures, which captured images of Konrad, glimpses of his passengers, and the license plates of the blue Delta Solarstorm.

__  __  __  __

The Black Van

A man, code-named “Rat,” smiled a devilish grin. His face crinkled up like a bunched up sheet and he coughed, and his cough was exacerbated by his excitement. He had seen an African man driving a blue Delta Solarstorm with two Caucasians ‒ a man and woman ‒ in the back seat. They matched the descriptions he had been given by Python.

‘These must be the very people Python had told me about,’ Rat thought. A small display screen in his dashboard revealed a close up of the front license plate of the blue car. The bald man scratched his red goatee as he quickly scanned the license plate photo with his eyes and chuckled. It matched the license plate number given him by Python. ‘There is no question that these people are my prey,’ he thought.

The black van slowed and conducted a U-turn. The muscular bald man with a red goatee on his chin faced the direction his quarry had gone and quickly began to accelerate. He was not going to let them get away from him. Then, he tapped a button on the dashboard computer screen. The screen glowed brighter and a male computerized voice said, “What may I do for you?”

“Set the car to the autonomous mode and follow the blue car up ahead,” Rat told the computer as he rubbed a long scar between his eyebrows.

“Setting to the self-driving mode. We are now following the blue Delta Solarstorm ahead. Relax and enjoy your trip,” the computer said.

Rat let go of the steering wheel, and the car began to drive itself. He reached into the large glove compartment and drew out two weapons. One was a leather case and the other was a silenced pistol in a holster. He drew the gun out and checked to make sure the silencer was screwed on tight. Then, he shoved it back in its holster and returned it to the large glove box.

Leaning back in his seat, Rat rubbed the leather case of his second weapon and smiled wickedly. The weapon in that case would come in handy once he was in the perfect position to use it. And, it was more useful to him than the silenced pistol.

__  __  __  __

Heading into the Woods

The last door slammed shut, and Konrad Adebayo, Maritza, and Kevin began walking up a hill through the dense forest bordering the road they had just traveled down. Each had donned a backpack that Konrad had brought with him. Earlier, before he had known of the plight Maritza and Kevin were in, God had told Konrad to bring the backpacks, three lightweight tents, and three sleeping bags with him in the rental car. He had obeyed, not knowing why he should bring the extra stuff. Now, he knew and was glad to have obeyed God earlier.

The blue car they had just left was parked on the side of the road near the edge of the forest, with its engine idling. In ten seconds, it shifted into drive and drove itself onto the road, quickly accelerating. Konrad had told the onboard computer to send the car back to its rental station in Kühnburg. Before long, the vehicle was gone from sight. It would take the car about an hour to reach the large town. By then, Konrad and his friends should be at least two miles from the road, or more.

“It’s nice to be out in the woods again,” Maritza said, glancing at Kevin, “and away from the dangers of the city.”

“I agree,” Kevin said as he stepped over a fallen log. “But, I kind of want to return to Kühnburg.”

Maritza turned toward him, surprised. “Why at this time?”

“I wanted to bring some stuff from my apartment with me,” Kevin said. “I have my pocket Bible and my wallet with me, but I left behind some valuables.”

“Like what?” she said as she shoved a low-hanging pine branch out of her face.

“Some money, my smartphone, a laptop, and other stuff,” Kevin said.

“Kevin, you shouldn’t go back to your apartment unless God tells you it’s safe,” Konrad said as he turned back toward Kevin.

“He’s right, Kevin,” Maritza said. “Those thugs who tried to kill or capture us are on the loose and they will certainly try to locate your apartment. They have resources. That’s how they located my apartment. Don’t you think you should probably just let go of those things, Kevin, even though it’s hard to do that?”

“What about my sister, and her husband, and Abdul?” Kevin said. “They left with the moving van. They were going to drop your stuff off at a storage place. But, now that we’re gone, they don’t know where we are and why we haven’t shown up at the storage place.”

“You’re right, but what can we possibly do?” Maritza said. “God has shown us to escape. Our lives are being hunted down.”

The reality of the danger Kevin face began to slowly sink in. Along with it came a deep feeling of gloom and fear. Would his sister and her husband, Rolf, be captured or killed by the crooks? He hoped not. Then, he realized he had a weapon at his disposal: prayer.

“Would you like to pray for Rolf, Svenja, and Abdul?” Kevin said. “I feel that their lives are in danger.”

“That would be a good idea,” Konrad said as he turned around and walked back toward the others. “I haven’t thought about them since I was just concerned about escaping those gangsters. Yes, let’s pray. I know that God answers prayer.”

Kevin removed his borrowed backpack and set it down beside him. Then, he closed his eyes for prayer.

___________________

The Yellow Moving Van

A large, red panel van appeared in the driver’s side mirror of the yellow moving van Rolf was driving. The red van had company decals displaying a computer repair business, its website, and a phone number. Rolf was at the wheel of the yellow van making his way through the busty streets of Kühnburg to a storage center on the outskirts of town.

_ _ _ _

After having seen the red van follow them through intersection after intersection, Rolf had begun to get concerned. When he had first noticed it, the red van was three cars down. But, after having driven across town, Rolf had noticed it trailing directly behind his rear bumper.

_ _ _ _

The driver had dark sunglasses and black hair, which poked out from under a white fedora on his head. Nothing about his appearance seemed odd, but his decision to follow Rolf through town was unnerving.

Once the yellow moving van was half a mile from town, and approaching the storage center, the computer repair van sped up and zoomed past the yellow van. The road was mostly empty of traffic, and no police cars were to be seen. Rolf began to slow the van, wondering what was going on with the red van. The computer repair van pulled back into the right lane and continued driving. Seeing that, Rolf felt a little relief.

“My son, Rolf,” God’s gentle voice said to his spirit, “slow down and make a U-turn.”

But, Rolf ignored the voice, feeling concerned about the red van and not believing that he could just do a U-turn then. The red van was now behaving strangely. It was starting to zigzag back and forth, driving into the wrong lane and back into the right lane. “What is he doing?” Rolf said out loud.

“He seems to be drunk or something,” Svenja said, leaning forward in her seat beside her husband.

Then, the red van remained in the right lane and began to slow. Suddenly, without warning, it screeched to a stop. Rolf hit the brakes and the yellow van slowed quickly, tearing up rubber as it skidded to a stop. The front bumper of the yellow van had come to a complete stop less than a meter from the rear bumper of the red van.

‘This guy must be crazy, or he has lost control of his car,’ Rolf thought as he opened his door.

But, a strong feeling came over him that he should not leave the van and should turn around immediately. However, the desire to see what was going on with the red car overcame him, and Rolf stepped out of the van. He approached the red van, noticing its dark streak marks across the asphalt. The driver was slouched forward in his seat, but the seatbelt was unbuckled. The man didn’t appear to be moving. So, Rolf stepped up to the driver and leaned down to get a closer look at the man’s face. He hoped the man was not seriously injured or suffering from a heart attack.

Suddenly, before Rolf could blink, the dark-haired man whirled in his seat and pointed a black, metal object at Rolf’s chest. Rolf felt his heart beat faster as his eyes locked onto the object. It was a pistol with an attached silencer.

“Don’t move a muscle, unless I say,” the man in the convertible said coldly.

Then, he tossed a pair of handcuffs toward Rolf, and said gruffly, “Snap these on your wrists.”

Feeling fearful, Rolf obeyed and snapped them around his wrists.

As this was going on, Svenja stifled a scream. She could clearly see her husband facing a gun barrel.

“What is going on?” Abdul said, unable to see the driver from his vantage point.

“That crook has a silenced pistol,” Svenja said. “Dear Jesus, please help us,” Svenja added with anxiety in her voice. “Please deliver us.”

The crook grabbed the handle of a sliding door and opened it, causing a screech to fill the air. Two men appeared in the back of the van, armed with silenced pistols. One was wearing a creepy-looking paintball face mask, which concealed his face well. The other was a bald-headed man with a dark mustache, a goatee, and a black patch over his left eye. The masked man wore dark tactical trousers and a T-shirt. And, the man with the eye patch wore a dark-grey pinstripe suit and a matching vest with a gold watch chain rising up out of a vest pocket.

With a sinking feeling in his heart, Rolf realized he had made a big mistake in not listening to God’s voice.

The crook with the black hair and the white fedora ordered him into the van. The 2.44-meter giant had to duck his head low as he reluctantly stepped into the vehicle. Then, crook shut the door, causing it to screech in its tracks. The masked man grabbed the tall man and had him sit in the rearmost seat of the van. He snapped some large handcuffs around Rolf’s ankles. With another pair of handcuffs, the crook linked the cuffs around Rolf’s wrists to those tightened around his ankles. Now, there was no human way Rolf could escape. He sighed deeply and began to pray.

Several moments later, the door screeched as it rolled open again and Svenja entered the compartment, followed by Abdul. Both had handcuffs around their wrists. Once both were inside, the man with the white fedora shut the door and hopped back into the driver’s seat. The masked man shackled up Svenja and Abdul in a manner similar to how he had done to Rolf. Then, all the gangsters took their seats and the van drove forward, accelerating quickly.

Wolf, the van driver, removed his white fedora and a dark-haired wig to reveal his short, blond hair. He had no need for the disguise, now that he had three prisoners.

“Where are you taking us?” Rolf said, looking at the one-eyed man with the dark goatee.

“We are going to turn you underground Christians over to the secret police,” Claw, the one-eyed man, said with a twisted grin. “Then, we’ll collect our reward money and leave. You’ll be placed in prison until they send you to a concentration camp where you will work until you die. And, it will be impossible to escape from those camps. You’ll know what I mean once you arrive.”

___________________

CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER 10.

AN EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 10 ("The Enemy Drone"):

'... A blue quadrotor drone hummed through the air as it flew high above the forest road which Konrad Adebayo, Kevin, and Maritza had driven down just seconds ago. Konrad’s rented Delta Solarstorm sedan was driving autonomously down the forest road 18 meters below the drone.

Humming like a bee as it shot through the air at 80 kilometers per hour, the robot focused on the license plate of the moving car and ...'

(Note: I do not make any money from this story. It is free to be read, printed, and distributed, but the text must remain unaltered.)

➠➠ ➠ If you would like to know Abba God the Father and Jesus Christ (God the Son), and be saved from sin, click here to read more.