David led his ragged platoon of bloody and wounded survivors into the depths of the locks, closing and securing any doors they came through. He weaved in and out of several corridors, but he wasn’t looking for an escape, defensive position, or even a place to hide. He had previously come into the lock to scout those things out while his men had prepared defensive positions above. He had seen something else that caught his attention.

“Emergency Manual Lock Controls – South” said, the bright yellow stenciled lettering on the grey metal door. He had seen a similarly marked room for the north lock doors at the other end of the facility, but the north doors were already open, unlike those on the south. David was fascinated by these sets of gates which allowed ships to transit from different water levels between the lakes and the river.

They all crowded around the marked door and stared at the padlock, but David had already grabbed a heavy metal pry bar from the tool room they passed a few minutes before. He slid the narrow end of the bar into the lock hasp and pried with his whole body behind the effort. There was a moment of resistance and then the lock broke apart so suddenly that David nearly fell backwards. He flung the door open and ushered everyone inside, and closed the door behind them.

The room was much larger than David expected. It was also just as pitch black dark as it was out in the hallways. Their flashlights went every which way, casting menacing shadows in all directions. He grabbed one of the lights and began examining the controls at the other end of the room. David saw several levers and switches and two large crank flywheels, one larger than the other. There were several metal sheets attached to the wall with directions on how to open the locks manually along with a list as long as his arm on reasons it was not a good idea to do so.

There were fastened security clamps on both flywheels and on the main lever. David easily popped these off. He read the dusty directions again in the dim light and pushed the main lever upward. He walked over to the smaller of the flywheels, which was about two feet in diameter, and tried to turn the wheel, but it was stuck. He hit it several times with the pry bar while one of the other men held the light. He could hear them mumbling and asking among themselves what he was doing, but he ignored them. Time was critical. David dropped the pry bar and tried again. This time the wheel moved grudgingly at first and then gradually became easier until the wheel spun in his hands. David turned the wheel as far as it would go, releasing the locking bolts and the immense counterweights deep in the bowels of the facility.

Then he turned to the larger wheel, which was nearly five feet in diameter. This was the wheel, connected to numerous other flywheels, that actually cranked open the outside lock doors. David grabbed the wheel and began to pull downwards. It didn’t budge. He tried the other direction and got the same result. He cursed in frustration imagining what was going on above them and yelled for his men to come help.

About a dozen men gathered around the wheel and began to pull downward, to no avail, when one noticed an arrow carved on the wall indicating they were trying to turn the wheel in the wrong direction. They reversed course and tried again. Again nothing initially happened, but then the wheel began to slowly inch clockwise with a loud grinding and clanking noise deep in the depths of the facility. They moved the wheel painfully, and unlike the first wheel, there never seemed to be a point where the wheel overcame its initial inertia. To move this wheel they fought for every painful inch. They kept at the wheel for possibly five minutes before it would turn no further. Then they all collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

David hoped it was enough and that it was the right thing to do. Joshua and his father were always the thinkers and knew what actions to take; he was the one who did it. He hoped it was the right thing this time. David would simply have to wait and see.

"We'll sit tight for here now," David told them, "and take care of our wounded. Let's also keep a couple of guards posted outside that door."

His soldiers did as he bid them. Some just slid to the floor to sit silently in the cool stillness.

David waited possibly two minutes before he couldn’t stand it any longer and decided he had to go see what was happening. He put his senior soldier in charge and told them to stay put for now, he would only be gone a minute. David checked his rifle to make sure a round was chambered and then he stepped out into the darkness of the hallway.

*******

Nathan ordered the vehicles to stop and the soldiers unloaded well before the dam. He could hear the explosions and see the smoke so he knew they were late, but maybe not too late. Time was key, but it wouldn’t do to bumble in and get themselves killed or captured. He had the units form up on line facing north and set out at a cautious pace while several small patrols ran ahead to gather information.

It didn’t take long for one of the patrols to return. He reported that the defenders at the dam had been completed overwhelmed and there were no sign of them. The WTR position ahead contained several hundred troops and a half dozen mortar tubes. The scout was emphatic that security in their direction was non-existent. The enemy, for whatever reason, was gathered silently near the shore staring at something the scout couldn’t see. There was also no sign of boats. All fighting had ceased.

That doesn't make any sense, Nathan thought. He called Captain Carter and his three remaining platoon leaders to him. Without hesitating, Nathan took control of all the troops at his disposal. He tried not to think about the fact that David was over there somewhere, perhaps bleeding and hurt, maybe dead already.

He directed two platoons to advance parallel to each other until they spotted enemy. They were to take up positions while the headquarters platoon remained behind to cover their rear and serve as a reserve if needed. Nathan would personally initiate the attack and ordered no one to let their soldiers get out of hand and start firing before his signal.

Nathan directed Harold to stay back while he and Captain Carter went forward to oversee the positioning of the troops. He found a small hill where he could get a good view of the situation. What he saw amazed him. He suddenly understood why the enemy was standing silent on the shore.

The first thing Nathan noticed was the fact that both lakes appeared to be draining away. The water was running north, fast as rapids, carrying branches, logs, trees and other debris in its wake. He saw the open lock, into which all the water was rushing in a wild and chaotic display. The lock doors were only partially opened, maybe about twenty feet, but it was enough to cause the pent up water in the lakes to rush wildly through the hole. The current had been strong enough to pull in all of the enemy transports and most of the smaller craft. These ships were piled up in the opening, crashing and crushing each other under the immense pressure. Portions of the ships were torn apart, thrown through the opening, and carried downriver while other boats were pushed further and further under the water down to the bed of the lake. The sight was unbelievable. Both Nathan and Captain Carter stared silently for at least a minute before they regained their senses.

Nathan realized they had the perfect element of surprise now and did not want to waste it. Although they were heavily outnumbered and overmatched in weapons, Nathan thought they just might be able to pull this off.

He passed the order to the platoon leaders to have their machine gunners take out the mortars first. They couldn’t afford to let those be turned against them. When Nathan judged the time was right, he gave the signal, and fire erupted nearly simultaneously along the entire line.

The shock and surprise was complete. Men were mowed down in bloody clumps. There was no cover on the bare beaches and the men trying to escape into the water were quickly sucked away with the boats. Others tried to hide behind their comrades, dead or alive.

The slaughter was complete, and Nathan did not see a single WTR soldier return fire among the hundreds on the beach. They simply died where they stood. Nathan was shocked by the speed of the slaughter. These were recently their fellow Americans. Many were relatives or friends and they were past resistance.

He began running up and down the line ordering men to cease fire. In addition, to wanting to spare as many lives as possible, he wanted prisoners to question, and at this rate there wouldn’t be a soul left alive on that deadly patch of ground.

He and Captain Carter finally succeeded in getting the firing stopped, and each platoon sent out several squads to round up and secure the survivors while the other squads provided cover. Thankfully, there were more enemy left alive than Nathan initially thought, but there were also scores of gruesomely wounded men for whom they could do nothing. All the survivors appeared to be in some sort of shock or tears. Some refused to be separated from their dead friends and had to be pried away by force. Many of the JP soldiers looked stunned.

Nathan found the sight was making him physically nauseous, and he had to turn away. He had seen many battlefields, and his share of death, but it never failed to sicken him.

Nathan looked out over what had once been beautiful Kentucky Lake. All he saw was a muddy bare ditch nearly a quarter of a mile across. The fading sun glinted on the shiny surface. Hundreds of fish flapped about in the mud, totally confused as to what had happened to their world.

Something made Nathan look over at the dam, its concrete surface and edges torn and wrecked. He saw a lone figure there who seemed to be looking directly at him. The distance was far too great to recognize him, but Nathan somehow knew it was David. The figure raised its hand to him and Nathan did the same in return. The figure then turned away and walked out of sight.

Nathan strode through the woods back towards the rear position. He smiled to himself in relief over David and took a moment to pray for Joshua, who was also somewhere out there. Nathan had to stop and get control of himself, thinking for a minute that he was going to break down in tears. He finally got control saying, “He’s alright too.” He started walking again, but took only a few steps before he had to bend down and spit the awful taste out of his throat.

He straightened and whipped his mouth on his sleeve. Harold was running towards him through the woods, his face pale and ghastly. He stopped in front of Nathan, bending over to catch his breath.

“No need to look so bad,” said Nathan, “it worked out, we’re okay.”

Harold shook his head, his expression growing worse, “Word just arrived. President Phillips has been assassinated.”