Story Overthrown The Death of America...The Entire Series

[day late]

I ADMIT I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers. So with the first book I will copy it, page by page and post it. It is the longest of all the books. After that I will try to post the PDF file for the remaining stories. So here we go.

Overthrown, The Death of America



Chapter One


"Daddy, I'm still hungry".

John looked at his 10 year old daughter. She looked so different from a year ago. True she was older, but she weighed far less than she should. Then again, they all did. Her eyes were pleading with him to do something to fill the empty spot in her belly. His heart was breaking knowing that there was nothing he could do to help his daughter. There simply wasn't enough food for the entire family to begin with. Since the troubles started, everything had changed so drastically. California had finally had "The Big One" and the entire coast had been devastated. From the Mexican border, to San Francisco, anything that wasn't under water, was wreak and ruin. The Pacific Ocean had, in places, come hundreds of miles inland. Millions had been killed outright. There was no citrus, no vegetables, no wine, and no food of any kind coming from there anymore. The only real 'industry' was trying to find, identify and bury all of the dead, and do what could be done to try to start to rebuild. But that would take decades, at least.

The survivors and refugees had started to pour out of the state. Shelter, food, and a chance to start again had to be given to millions. The states bordering California had borne the brunt of the mass emigration, but the entire country suffered. With the Pacific Coast no longer able to bring in oil or fuel, the cost of everything had gone up. The surviving farming industry had suffered inconceivable setbacks and hardships. Without fuel, it was impossible to get the much needed fertilizers to the farmers. Farmers in cases would have to leave their crops in the field to rot, because there was no way to get them to market. John knew that farmers in the southern part of the country, while truly sorry for the loss of life, and property, out west looked forward to increased profits for their crops, since there were fewer crops going to market to compete with their own.

That is they did until "The Storm" hit. Who would have dreamed it? Well at least one person had done so. He remembered some wacky sounding person he had heard about called 'Brother Bob' who had said God had warned him of the storms years before they had happened. He had told the people of not only Florida, but much of the entire Gulf coast to get out while they could. Then, unbelievably, it happened. Three hurricanes in the Atlantic, churned away, until they merged into one huge storm. Then two from the Gulf of Mexico, and even one more that had crossed over Mexico from the Pacific, joined together and had devastated Florida as it raced across the state and then it combined with the storm in the Atlantic into one huge mega storm. It had covered nearly a quarter of the North Atlantic at its height. Then it had slammed into the southeastern part of the country. It seemed everything within one hundred miles of the coast from the Carolinas to the Texas/Mexico border had been beaten unmercifully into the ground. That was less than six months ago. They still didn't have any reports from anything south of Tallahassee Fla. Roads were either under water, or simply impassible. The winds had reached well over two hundred miles an hour. Not much was left standing within thirty miles of the coast. Certainly any oranges growing down there were being pulled off of the trees and eaten on the spot by any survivors.

“Daddy, I'M hungry!”

John looked at his little girl again and remembered how happy she had been a week ago when he had managed to buy a single small orange for her birthday. It had cost him nearly twenty dollars, but the look on her face had been worth it. He loved her so much.

With the crops across the country being virtually wiped out by the disasters, the government had come out and told the people that they would have to get by on a reduced diet of 1400 calories a day, until further notice. Less than 1400 for those under 16 years of age. They were all hungry, but how do you explain that to a brand new 10 year old? John was hungry too. VERY hungry, since he had been insisting that his wife take more of the food than he did. After all, she was still nursing their newborn son. They both needed the food more than he did, to his way of thinking.

Then his mind drifted to the Timmons family across the street. He thought about how he and others had laughed, and made fun of Mike and his wife, Sarah, for having the two years worth of food they had set aside "just in case". It seemed so stupid to have so much food put away. Back then, everyone KNEW that no matter what happened the government would be there to handle the situation. Life would go on, and everything would be fine. Sure there might be some temporary hardships, but they wouldn't stay that way. The government couldn't allow that to happen.

They weren't laughing now. Early on, before the mega-storm, John had gone over to them and asked about borrowing some food, just until he could pay it back. After all, the government would be doing everything possible to help the people. Everybody knew that. What John hadn't expected was the answer he got.

"John I'm sorry. But if I give you our food, what will we eat? I can't do it.” Mike had said. “Why didn't you prepare when you could? I warned you that we were at risk. I told you that this nation was going to be coming under Gods' judgment. And you even make more money than I do. You could have done something. You should have done something while you had the chance. Anything would be better than this. Really, I'm sorry, but if I give you food, then next it will be the Johnson's down the street. After that, the Smiths from the next block. I just can't do it, I'm sorry".

John couldn't believe it when Mike had refused him. Even though in the back of his mind, he knew that Mike was right on both counts. He should have done something back then while he'd had the chance. He just never saw the need. Nobody could have predicted this. Except for that 'Brother Bob' guy and nobody else would have ever thought of this. He also knew that if Mike and his wife started to hand out food, soon everyone that learned of it would be knocking, and even pounding at their door. But even so, he didn't think that Mike could turn him away. They had known each other for years. Their kids played together. They visited each other’s house, often. And they even celebrated their children’s birthdays together.

But they had kept their stockpile of food instead of turning it in for the greater good of the country, when the government had called on citizens to turn over extra food stocks for the duration of the emergency. . Now they sat there, well fed and relatively happy. It made him mad. The more he thought of them, the angrier he got. Who were they to think that they were better than anyone else? Okay they had paid good money for the food, but this was an emergency. Everyone was in need these days. Why should they be allowed to keep the food they had bought, when so many were in need? And their kids! Their kids were such smart alacks. Not that they were disrespectful, it was just that they were at least two years ahead of other children their age in their education because Sarah and Mike home-schooled them. Ask those kids any question, and they would answer well beyond their years. How could his children compete with that when they grew up? Home-schooling seemed to work for the Timmons, but he and his wife just couldn't afford to take the time to do it for their daughter, or new born son when he got old enough. There were priorities. A man had to make a living after all. Mike and Sarah should have done like everybody else and sent their children to public school.

"DADDY. I'm hungry!”

John thought about just going over and taking the food he needed. After all, he NEEDED it for his family. But sometimes Mike was a little different. He stored food when there wasn't any need to do so. He and his son went hunting every year, when there wasn't any need to kill animals for food. The grocery store was just down the street, he could have bought anything he liked. He made a decent enough living. Or at least he could before all of this had happened. John wanted to take the food, he just wasn't sure if Mike had turned in his guns when the government had outlawed them to settle things down when the food started to run out. They said it was necessary to keep the peace. As Johns' stomach growled at him, he knew he was willing to break the peace for the sake of his family as well as his own needs.

What to do? What to do? He remembered the commercial he had seen on T.V. before the power had become so unreliable. The mega-storm had done unbelievable damage to the oil industry along the Gulf Coast. With the west coast oil industry already so badly damaged, the shortage had driven oil to well over two hundred and fifty dollars a barrel. Nobody drove anywhere anymore. It was just too expensive, and naturally the cost of fuel had driven up the cost of food. Before, it had been just jump in the car and go to the store. Now when the stores would actually open for a few hours once or twice a week and, people would travel to them in groups in order to save money and gas. Not to mention there had been reports of gangs of young men attacking individual shoppers to steal whatever they had managed to buy.

And then there was the matter of the electric companies. Without fuel for the generators, power companies had been forced to reduce the number of hours they ran each day. It was better for everyone to have some power, than everyone having none at all, was the thought. They tried to provide just enough power to keep things close to normal. Still, he remembered, there had been a phone number for tips to turn in hoarders. There was even a reward of part of the food and/or fuel confiscated to the tipster. He had written it down somewhere. Maybe he should find it.

John shook his head. What was he thinking? Their kids played together after school. During the summer, they all went swimming in the Timmons pool, and had bar-b-ques. John was godfather to Mike and Sarah's son, their oldest child. Still, they had more food than they needed, and it wasn't fair to the rest of the people for them to hoard all that wonderful food, while everyone else went hungry.

"DADDY?"

His mind made up, he spoke to his little girl.

"Don't worry sweetheart. Daddy is going to have lots of food for you in a day or two. But for now, off to bed with you, and try to sleep."

With this promise, the girl smiled, and went to her room.

 

[day late]

Meanwhile, in the Timmons household, across the street, blankets had been put over the windows. They didn't want to let other people know that they had power courtesy of the generator they had running in the garage with extra baffles to keep the noise level down. In times like these, having lights when no one else did would attract such unwanted attention. Mike, his wife Sarah, had been careful over the past few months in avoiding the eyes and ears of other people in their neighborhood. Mike had built a ten foot tall fence around their back yard. Since burglary had become such a problem because of the lack of power, and the over worked law enforcement agencies not having the man power to investigate every call that came in, so nobody thought a thing about it. Many of their neighbors had done the same thing, trying to protect themselves from thieves who seemed to no longer have any concern about being caught. Law enforcement officers were so overwhelmed by the outbreak of crime, they were almost powerless to do anything about anything that didn't involve people shooting at each other.

In truth, Mike had built the fence to both protect his family, and conceal the garden that he and Sarah had planted to provide fresh vegetables for the family. He had taken pains to make certain that as things got worse, his family didn't look like they were any different from the families around them. It just didn't seem wise to him that in this time of need, to show off how they were in a better position than the others. And it had worked at first. But he knew it wouldn't last. And this night, they and their 15 year old son were sitting around the kitchen table, talking quietly so as to not wake the 10 and 12 year old son and daughter sleeping in the next room, they were making sure that all was in readiness. The generator had been used for the last time earlier that day, to freeze some food stuffs before they had to do what they were now planning to do. They had a simple camping lantern which was turned down to give only a minimum of light. No sense in letting people know that the Timmons' family might be up to something at this late date.

"Mike, are you sure we have to do this?" Sarah asked once again. "This is such a nice neighborhood. The children like it, and we have friends here. Do we really have to leave?"

"I’m afraid so.” He answered. “Things are getting out of control. You should have heard a couple of guys at work today. They were planning on how they were going to split up the reward food they were getting for a tip they turned in. And they don't even know how much, if any, that they are going to get. Do you remember a month ago when I had to pull my shotgun, on two different occasions, to keep someone from breaking in to steal our food?"

She nodded silently.

"Well, things haven't gotten better since then as you know. I honestly believe the only reason we haven't had a third visit from thieves is because nobody is sure if I turned in our weapons or not when the government said to turn them in. But it is only a matter of time, and I think a short time, before someone tries again. THEN what do we do? If I shoot, everyone will know we're armed, and the authorities will be coming to visit. If I don't shoot, we lose whatever they can carry away, including our weapons. And who knows what will happen to us."

"Mom, Dad's right.” Tommy said. “Just yesterday some of my friends at school were asking why I'm not as thin as they are. I've been able to come up with excuses so far, but it is getting harder to do every day. On top of that, I noticed two of them pointing at me and talking to each other kind of secretly. I think they are going to turn us in for food hoarding."

Sarah looked at her son. Realizing once again how hard things were getting for all of them. He was being forced to grow up much too fast.

"Thank you for telling me that, Tommy. I've been wondering how anyone would know about our back yard garden, since the fence is ten feet tall. No one can see over it, so I was wondering how someone might have guessed. What you said explains how someone figured out to raid our garden.” She bowed her head slightly and shook it, before speaking again. “I know. You're both right. It's just that this is our home. I hate the thought that we will be forced to leave."

Mike answered.

"I know me too. But I'm afraid we no longer have a choice. We are just starting to look too different from everyone else. The children are all quite healthy and show it. And the younger two still have the same kind of energy that all kids used to have. With the three of us it is different. We can fake it most of the time, but with them, you can't control it. Is everything packed in the 4X4? Gas tanks topped off from our stash?"

"Yes, Dear. Tommy and I got all of that done while you were at work today. Are you sure we can get out of town without being noticed? What about the guns? If we get caught with them..." Her voice trailed off. The penalty of death for having a firearm was well known to everyone in the country. It was also well know that the sentence was often carried out on the spot. In areas under control of the foreign troops that the government had brought in it was often a case of no exceptions, no excuses, and no appeal.

"I'm as sure as I can be. I know all the back roads to my hunting cabin. We don't have to spend any time on major roads, and we should be able to avoid roadblocks, God willing. It is only 60 miles. It shouldn't take more than an hour and a half to get there. If we leave in the early morning, before sun up, most everyone will still be asleep, and the military guys on patrol and the police won't be at their sharpest. Besides, nobody goes out at night any more. The headlights they are used to seeing are from their own vehicles. We should be able to sneak through."

Turning to his son, Mike said,

"I want you to get some sleep son. I'll wake you in a few hours, and grab a little shuteye myself. Then we get the younger ones, and pull out. Sarah, make sure you keep them quiet. Last thing we need is to have someone call and report we are acting strangely at the last minute. Now, a few last things that I want the two of you to listen to carefully."

Mentally Mike did something he hadn't done in years. He went back to his Army training.

"First, Tommy, you are riding with your mother. I want you to keep the shotgun out of sight, but close enough to use if you have to do so. Understand me son, you DO NOT fire, unless, or until I do. The only exceptions to that are if we get stopped. If anyone tries to get into your mother’s car, or pull someone out, you DO NOT give them a warning. DO NOT give them a chance. DO NOT threaten them. You just shoot them. Remember, they are professionals. Given any excuse, or reason THEY WILL kill you without a second thought. Then they will kill everyone else in the vehicle just to be sure there is no more resistance"

To his credit, Tommy took it in stride. It took half a second for the statement to sink in, and he answered.

"I understand."

"Sarah, if Tommy has to shoot, you understand me, DO NOT wait for instructions. You hammer the gas and run. Speed is the key. You have to break contact with them, and then get out of sight as quickly as possible. Take dirt roads and get under the trees of helicopters won't see you. You don't stop until you get to the cabin. Don't wait for me. I'll be trying to lead them away from you, and get back to you as soon as I can. Understand?"

"Yes." Was her only word.

Quietly, mother and son went to bed to try to sleep, as Mike pulled his pistol from its holster, checking it one more time, before putting it back and arranging the belt into a more comfortable position. It was going to be a long night.

As instructed, Tommy woke his parents at four A.M. Mike made one last check of the 4X4 Sarah was driving, and his pick-up, as Sarah woke the younger children. The news that they were going to go for a ride was exciting for them. They hadn't been for a ride in months. Sarah quieted them and warned them to not make any noise, with the excuse that this was a family outing. They didn't want anyone else to suddenly show up and spoil their special trip by asking to come along. Then they all gathered in the garage.

"Okay.” Mike said, “One last thing before we go. Let's pray."

"Mike? Do you think we have time for that?" Sarah questioned.

"Sweetheart, do you really want to try this WITHOUT praying first?"

"Ummmm, I see what you mean."

The prayer was brief, but heartfelt.

"Here Tommy, take this.”

It was a short range walkie talkie.

"This isn't for chatting. Turn it on, but use it only in case of emergency. No point in telling anyone that might be listening what we are doing."

Tommy nodded, and stuck the radio in his jacket pocket. Then they got in the vehicles and pulled out, as quietly as possible. Knowing that the garage door would make more noise to possibly alert their neighbors to something unusual going on, Mike had left the door wide open. Now, with a last longing look at the home they had known for so many years, the vehicles pulled out onto the street, with the headlights off to avoid attention.

To Mike's surprise they made it out of town without attracting anyone’s attention. Once in the suburbs, he turned onto a service road that followed one of the major power-lines into town. Knowing that this very rough dirt road used for maintained was almost totally unused, he knew it would likely be unguarded as well. After passing the third hill after leaving town, Mike turned on the parking lights. The sun was just starting to come up. A couple of hours later and things had gone well. No roadblocks, no patrols, no trouble of any kind, and Mike was starting to relax as the day brightened. That is when the radio crackled to life.
"Dad, we are being followed."

He looked in the mirror and saw only the 4X4.

"How close are they?"

"REAL close and getting....HEY!!! Dad! They just rammed us."

"Give me your mother."

"I hear you Mike. What do I do?"

"They want to bump you off the road. Next time they start to come at you, slam on the brakes."

"WHAT? Mike that makes no sense."

"Sarah, listen to me. Just before they bump you again, hit the brakes HARD. Trust me. Just do it."

"Here they come again."

Mike waited as he watched the mirror. Suddenly the front of the S.U.V. jerked downward as Sarah lay on the brakes. Although he couldn't see the pursuit vehicle, he knew what would happen. At fifty miles per hour, the pursuit car didn't have a chance. When the front of the 4X4 went down, naturally the back end came up. The trailer hitch sticking out the back passed above the bumper of the pursuit car, and crashed through its' front grill, punching a gaping hole in the radiator. Hot water and steam came boiling out. But even more important, and what Mike was counting on, was at that speed, the impact caused the airbags in the chase car to deploy. Blinded by the airbag, and having his hands also forced off the wheel at the same time, the driver lost control. The car jerked to one side as Sarah hit the gas, and then it swerved the other direction. Finally, one wheel dropped off the pavement, dug into the soft dirt on the edge of the road. It then flipped and rolled down into the ditch.

"Mike, he's in the ditch. What do we do now?"

"Follow me."

Five miles down the road was a small river. Mike crossed over it on the bridge, and then pulled off onto the one lane paved road leading down to one of Tommy's favorite fishing holes. At the bottom, he pulled under the overpass far enough for Sarah to pull in behind him, and get out of sight from both the road, and the air.

Once stopped, Mike went back to check on his family. The younger children, who had been scared at the time of the attack, were now bragging about how Mommy had saved them from the bad guys. Tommy got out of the car to stretch his legs he said. Really, he wanted to know if his legs had stopped shaking enough for him to walk. Sarah continued to sit behind the wheel, and try to stop from trembling. As Mike came to her, she looked at him and asked,

"Do you think they called us in on the radio?"

"That would be standard procedure. That's why we got out of sight."

"Oh. Yes, I guess you are right."

From the back of the 4X4 Tommy called.

"Dad! I think you should have a look at this.'

Mike walked to the back of the 4X4. The rear hatch was badly damaged. He had his doubts about if he would ever be able to open it again. That's when he heard it. A vehicle of some kind was coming towards them, at high speed. He ran to the pick-up. Reaching through the window, he grabbed a rifle, and moved to the front end of the truck. He used it as a shield between him and whoever was coming. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Tommy doing the same thing at the back of the S.U.V. Sarah and their younger children had gotten out and now crouched behind the car. Both he and Tommy waited quietly, fearing any sound could give them away. As he listened to the oncoming vehicle, he heard the helicopter coming, not far behind. Soon it passed overhead and kept going. Suddenly the vehicle above slowed, and then stopped at the edge of the bridge they were hiding under. He heard two car doors open, then close above them. This was followed by a voice.

"Eagle Three, do you see anything?"

The reply was indistinct.

"That's what I thought. If there was anyone out here, they are long gone by now."

The radio was still not quite understandable.

"Well, all I can tell you is that Charlie said something about a 4X4 hitting the brakes, and then he died."

Again, indistinct radio chatter came back.

"If you ask me, Charlie wasn't the greatest driver, and he liked to drive fast. I think he dropped a wheel off the side, and flipped. I don't think he knew he was dying, and he was looking for an excuse for the wreak."

More garbled talk from the chopper.

"No. I haven't seen any sign of any thing. Lets' call it quits and go home."

Mike listened as two car doors opened, then closed, the engine start, and the vehicle slowly turn around and head back to where it came from.

After a moment more, Mike realized his chest was hunting. That's when he remembered to breathe. Shortly after that Sarah called to him.

"Mike. I'm glad we prayed before we left.”

 

[day late]

Chapter Two



The Police Chief sat at his desk studying the list of names of people to be picked up on the following night. As he was checking it out, he heard 'The Colonel' coming. He and many other foreign officers had been brought into the country at the request of the President, and they were meant to help keep order. But the orders they followed seemed to be the ones of their own making. And there was no one to stop them. They were completely out of the local law enforcements' jurisdiction, and answered only to the federal government. In his case, it wasn't that he was loud, in fact it was quite the reverse. The quieter he became, the more people became uneasy. The fact was that as he came into view, everyone fell silent. Nobody wanted to attract his attention. It was known that those who got on his bad side had a habit of disappearing. Forever!

As 'The Colonel' entered the office the Chief rose out of his seat to greet him. The Chief hated to do this, because as he looked into the Colonels eyes, he saw nothing but pure evil.

"Good morning Sir! How are you doing this fine day?"

"The same as always. I’m waiting for the enemies of the state to become nothing more than bad memories. How are YOU coming with that?"

The Chief held up the list.

"Here we have it. Every known person who has ever spoken out against the government, plus the others, the gun owners, the veterans, home schoolers, they are all on the list.”

The Colonel stopped him with a wave of his hand.

“How can you be so sure about gun owners? I know there are many unregistered weapons in this country.”

Smiling the chief answered.

“That was easy. If they bought a hunting license, they must have a gun. If they get certain types of magazines, the probably own guns. There are a thousand ways to find out.” He paused for a moment and slightly frowned. “There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that it seems some of those on the list might have already left town, possibly as recent as last night. The good news is that most of these disruptor's are still at home, waiting to be picked up."

"Good, good. Get as many of them as you can tonight."

"Not to worry Sir. If they are anywhere around here, we'll have them by morning."

"Make sure you get as many as possible." With that, 'The Colonel' turned on his heel and left the Chief to his task.

The operation began in the smaller cities and towns, as night fell. Larger cities were surrounded by the foreign troops. Nobody was allowed out, but anyone foolish enough to try to enter the cities was allowed to proceed. Once in the city, they wouldn't be permitted to leave again. The smaller cities and towns were overwhelmed by foreign troops who moved with speed and ruthlessness that was unknown to the American people. Long before dawn, in most cases, the round-up was complete. Since most of the people had turned in their firearms during the time the government was trying to regain control of the country, things went very smoothly. On the few occasions if there was any resistance, if it couldn't be quickly and easily overcome, they just backed off, and called in the tanks. After a few high explosive shells, resistance ended with the death of those who fought back.

The people in the cities had no idea what was going on in the countryside, since all communications such as telephones were taken down before the start. Two way radios were jammed to prevent anyone from talking about what was happening. Only military frequencies were still clear. None of the civilians used those channels, for fear of letting the military know where they were hiding.

It was bloody work, which these men knew well, and had no qualms about doing. Besides, after it was done, they knew they would have their pick of any women captured. And if one of them fought back, the choice was simple. Beat them into submission, or just shoot them and find another. Resistance was quite limited, and brief.

In the morning, the Chief looked over the railing to the courtyard below. Last night had been a good one. Nearly everyone on the pick-up lists had been rounded up. With all of the help he had gotten, first in the months before this, by the honest citizens of the state. The ones that hated guns were only too happy to turn in those who had them. The ones that distrusted the home-schoolers, possibly because the home schooled children usually did better not only in school, but later in life as well, wanted their children to have a level playing field. With the home-schoolers out of the way, now their children had a better chance. Once the food started getting short, almost everyone was happy to turn on those who had actually prepared for such a possibility. It was amazing to see how these people would turn on each other so quickly. Especially when the word got out that by doing so, they would get part of the confiscated food as a reward. Yes, the honest law-abiding citizens had made his job so easy. Secondly with the help of the foreign troops, most of whom couldn't speak a word of English, the sweeps went so fast it was amazing.

The Chief turned his back on the mass of people below, and went back into his air conditioned office. It was early, and the day promised to be a hot one. Besides, some of those malcontents had started looking up and pointing at him. It made him uncomfortable. As he sat there going over the list of those few that had managed to escape the dragnet, thinking about who to assign to go after them, the door opened. Looking up, he saw The Colonel come into his office. Smiling, he stood to welcome his guest. He knew that this man would be quite pleased with the results of last night’s raids. He was certain that he would soon get his "unimagined" reward that had been promised him. The smile faded from his face, when he saw the three large men, in body armor with pistols tucked into their holsters, follow The Colonel into the room.

"What's the meaning of this?" He asked as two of them came forward to first disarm, then to bind the Chief. "I've done nothing wrong. I've gone out of my way to help you get these malcontents rounded up."

"Yes Chief. You have been a great assistance to us. Nearly all of the people that might cause trouble are now safely locked away, until they reach the camps." A stone cold smile briefly crossed his face, as he thought of what awaited the malcontents there. "We couldn't have gotten it done so quickly or as easily as you managed to do. And that is why you will be joining them.” He paused and fixed the chief with a cold stare. “You see Chief....or should I say ex-Chief, since you have captured and turned over to us everyone we asked for, how can we trust you? How could we trust someone that betrays his own people? How could we be sure you wouldn't do the same to us?”

He waved to former Chief to silence before he could say a word.

"No matter what you say, we couldn't believe you. Save your breath. You're going to need it. Take him away".

Once in the courtyard, the former Chief didn't have to worry about things for very long. He had just been re-elected. Everyone there knew his face. They knew what he had done. They weren't happy with him.

The Colonel sat at the desk of his former ally. It had been so easy. A couple of attacks with scalar weapons to cause the "natural disasters" and the Americans started to fall apart. Let them stew for a little while, and they begged for the foreign troops to come in and "help" them. With the assistance of a few well placed congressmen to disarm the population, and set them up for the kill, the rest went very smoothly. In his mind, He imagined what it would be like when his master showed up in Jerusalem to take his throne. Then he would have his reward. All of those prisoners to play with. So much delicious meat for the table. And it had been so simple. The only threat left were the followers of the Nazarene. And the Master had plans for them.




As the sun rose, Mike, Sarah and their children finally pulled up to the hunting cabin. Mike had never expected this previously hour long trip to take as long as it did. After the encounter with the pursuit car, they had stayed hidden under the bridge until it was almost dark.

:”Why are we leaving when there is still a little day light left?” Sarah wanted to know. “Wouldn't it be better to leave when it gets really dark?”

As Mike helped his wife into the car, he explained. “Honey, there have been a lot of technological improvements over the years. With equipment they have now it doesn't matter if it's day or night if they think they've spotted you and really look. They will see you. But despite all the improvements that have been made, dusk and dawn remain the times when a man’s observational powers are at their weakest. The changes in light and shadow are hard to adjust to. Once your eyes get adjusted to one level of light, the lighting has already changed. This is the best time to make up some distance before its dark enough for the night vision stuff to work properly and when men have a harder time seeing.”

Carefully they left their hideout and continued on their way. It wasn't long before Mike turned off the road onto a small dusty little one lane dirt road. As she turned the S.U.V. onto the road behind her husband Sarah asked Tommy if he knew what was going on.

“Oh, yeah. Dad has been taking all these dirt roads around here for years, whenever we went hunting. He always said that the deer aren't going to stand by the edge of the Hi-way and wait for you to come by. You have to go find them. So anyway, he knows which ones go where. I guess he thinks this will keep us out of sight a little better.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Sarah said as she remembered hitting the brakes earlier. “But why are we traveling so slowly?”

“Dust. When you go even a little bit too fast down these roads, you kick up a lot of dust. During hunting season everyone tries to not raise a lot of it as a courtesy to other hunters. Here and now, I think Dad doesn't want to make it easy for someone to find us.”

Sarah looked at her son with new eyes. She'd never heard him speak this way before. He wasn't a child any longer. She thought for a moment before speaking again.

“So, where did you learn about all of these things?”

Tommy smiled sheepishly and said,

“Mom, Dad and I had a lot of time to talk while we were out here. We talked about a lot of things. Don't get me wrong, he didn't try and force me to believe anything he believes in. What he did was mostly answer my questions. “

“Questions about what?”

“Oh, everything. The Bible, politics,” Tommy paused briefly, looked down and half mumbled, “Girls. All kinds of things. That's why I think he doing what I said. I got to know him pretty well.”

“So it would seem.” Wisely, Sarah let the 'girls' comment pass without notice. But she made a mental note to herself to have a talk with Mike.

 

[day late]

They continued on through the night at a snail’s pace it seemed. Mike was driving with only his parking lights on, which made it much harder to see the road and made him drive very slowly, but he also knew that headlights shining off the trees at night could be seen miles away. The parking lights wouldn't. Then Mike started doing something that Sarah had never known him to do. He would stop as far as possible from an intersection of two dirt roads, turn off his lights, get out of the truck and look through something for several minutes. Satisfied, he would get back in the truck, turn on the parking lights again and move forward.

“Do you have any idea what your father is doing?”

“I think he's checking out the intersections before we get there.”

“How is he doing that?”

“He's using a night vision scope kind of thing he has. He calls it a monocular. He said he'd like to have one of those really good sets of night vision that you wear on your head, but they are too expensive. So, what he has is better than nothing. He's let me look through it at hunt camp. That thing works really good. You can see a lot more with that at night, than you can with your eye, that’s for sure.”

Sarah had been looking at her son while he spoken. Now she again looked out the windshield. She had always known that Mike took his responsibilities as both a husband and a father very seriously. She just hadn't realized how far ahead in his thinking he actually was. He identified the need to put away food, just in case something happened, years before she did. He had made certain they had many of the things they were going to need when it came time for leaving, within his ability to provide. He was the one who had insisted that she be able to at least point a weapon in the right direction before shooting, but she never really found the enjoyment in it that he did. Tonight she was glad she learned to handle a weapon. She even understood that some of what he was doing had to have come from his military training. But, night vision? When did he get that? Where did he get that? She admitted to herself that Mike had never tried to hide anything from her. But he didn’t talk a lot about it either. And most times she didn't even bother to ask. It was just another of his many pet projects. Yes, she trusted Mike. She only wished that she'd paid a little more attention to what he'd been saying and doing. At least that much, she knew she could do something about.

For his part, Mike indeed had been using the night vision piece to investigate the road ahead. He'd also used it while behind the wheel on a couple of occasions. He had gotten it off of one of those on line local city classified ad pages. He had gotten a lot of things that way. Most importantly, a couple of shotguns, a pistol and a rifle. Since all sales were local face to face deals, there was no legal requirement to register the weapons, and he didn't. There wasn't a trace that he owned a weapon anywhere. He had also figured that walking out of one store with a lot of ammunition was sure to attract attention. But by walking out of several stores with just a few boxes, he wouldn't be noticed. Even if he did it every couple of weeks. Soon there was a sizable stack of ammunition for each weapon. He just hoped he wouldn't need the weapons tonight. The dirt roads he was taking would keep him off the main roads almost all the way to their destination. But there was one section of paved road they had to take that was about five miles long that they simply would have to travel on. Mike looked upward briefly and said;

“Lord, I know we've spoken about this before, but we really are going to need your protection on that part of the trip tonight. Please watch over us all. Amen.”

The prayer made him think of timing his trip down the paved road. He wanted to pick a time when any patrols wouldn't be covering that part of the road. He couldn't know exactly when the patrols might be there. But by knowing the town they where they would likely be coming from, and how long it would take them to reach the area, He could make what he hoped was a pretty good guess. He looked at the dashboard clock and was surprised to learn that they hadn't gotten very far in the time they'd spent on the road. He wanted to go faster, but knew that rushing was a mistake. It made you get sloppy, and that would get you caught. So he resolved himself to continue to check out potential trouble spots before he got to them. If it took extra time, let it. Better safe than sorry.

His mind drifted to Sarah. She was a good and Godly wife. He was proud of her. Unlike many people she too could see the signs of what was coming and adjust to the circumstances. Like when they had left home. True she needed a little prodding, but she didn't deny the truth. If they stayed, they'd be caught and punished for having the foresight to know that having extra food was a good idea. She didn't always agree with him, and sometimes she had been proven right. She never said 'I told you so' when those things happened. She just helped him carry on and never spoke of the matter again, no matter what it was. And their son took after her in that way.

As the night wore on, Mike realized that a stop from time to time would be in order to allow everyone a chance to stretch their legs. It was during one of these stops that Mike and Sarah spoke privately.

“Mike, we can't stay at the cabin forever. What are we going to do?”

“Honey, right now I'm more concerned with just getting there. We should have been able to make it before sun down today. Then we had that trouble earlier and that took a lot of time from us. Moving slow like this doesn't help either. It's nearly two A.M. as it is.” He sighed. “At least the younger two are sleeping. What about Tommy and you? How are the two of you holding up?”

“Tommy's' fine, and I'm learning a lot about you.” Sarah smiled at him when he looked at her questioningly. “What kind of questions did he ask you about girls?”

“You know, I think it's time we got back on the road. We still have a ways to go.”

“You're avoiding the question.” She called out to his back.

“You bet I am.” Came the reply.

Now here it was. Sunrise on the next day, and they finally arrived at the cabin. The younger children having spent so much time cooped up in the S.U.V. Began to chase one another around the front of the cabin. Tommy simply got out and with shotgun in hand walked over to a rocking chair on the porch and sat down with the laid weapon across his lap. He turned his head and watched the road they had come up. No matter how much he rocked, his eyes stayed glued to the approach to the cabin.

With a promise of more play time later Sarah got the youngest two children to help her begin the job of unloading the vehicle. Mike again walked to the back of it to inspect the damage done by the collision. He saw that the bottom of the hatch had been curled under and he thought if he could just get the door to open a little he could possibly find a way to get under it to force it open if necessary. He grabbed the handle for opening the door and tried it. Nothing happened. He began to work with the handle, lifting it to see what he would have to do to get it off so he could have a chance to attack the lock inside. As he stood there thinking about what to do, Sarah came out of the cabin towards him. She saw the look on his face and knew he was somewhere again, working on one of his problems. Not wanting to disturb him, she eased her way in front of him with a polite,

“Excuse me, Honey”.

She stuck the key into the lock, turned it, and lifted the hatch open. For a moment, she had doubts about Mike’s sanity as he collapsed onto the ground, laughing at himself.

 

[day late]

Chapter Three


Kathy couldn't believe this was happening. After all, this was America, it couldn't happen here. But it was. Before the power had become so unreliable, and sporadic, she and her husband Tim, had seen the President come on the T.V. to talk to the American people. If she had only known what was really on his mind, she wouldn’t have been so quick to comply with the authorities.

He had said that due to the severity of the disasters, martial law was in effect. With most of the military engaged in the Middle East, the President had an idea. One that had been on his mind for a long time. N.A.T.O. troops as well as others were already in America. Some had been stationed on active military bases. Others were kept out of sight on bases that had been closed down for years. None of them cared a bit about the Constitution. They would do as they were told, without remorse or hesitation. After all, they weren't shooting their own people. This was America. These Americans needed to be brought down. They had been running things all over the world for far too long. The President knew that was what they were thinking. This was his chance to take full control over the nation. The members of Congress didn't have a place to meet with martial law in effect. Unless he chose to allow it. He would make sure they never did. With numerous Presidential Orders, and Presidential Decision Directives already in place, in case of something like this, he had the authority to rule by decree.

It wasn't long before the members of different gangs in every major city, found out that these men weren't what they were expecting. Foolishly they had assumed they would be like the cops they were used to, and could deal with. They had expected these troops to follow the law, as did the American National Guardsmen. They didn't. It was as if they made up their own laws as they went along. Soon the gang bangers were starting to drop like flies, as the foreign troops opened fire on them on sight. They didn't even try to capture them. They just shot them.

Nobody was to leave their home. All citizens were requested to give every assistance to the foreign troops. Unfortunately the troops had been sent to the larger cities and towns first. Kathy and Tim hadn't even seen so much as a military truck yet.

Many people had welcomed these men who were putting a long awaited end to the gang’s reign of terror. At least in the beginning. But there had been stories about some of the troops starting to behave even worse than the gangs. Taking whatever struck their fancy, and there was nobody to stop them. Food, drink, money, and in some cases it was rumored, even women and children, were taken. Never to be seen again.

So the surviving gang members had simply moved out of the cities, and were now terrorizing the countryside.

While Kathy huddled with their children in the back bedroom, Tim, her husband, gripped and re-gripped the baseball bat in his hands. He knew it wouldn't be much help in the face of the gang bangers, but it was all he had. They had never been into the outdoors kind of thing, and when Kathy had gotten pregnant with their first child, Tim toyed with the idea of getting a gun of some kind, for protection. However, when he brought up the subject to her, Kathy talked him out of it. After all, the police were only a phone call away, and everyone knew it wasn't wise to keep a loaded weapon around small children. He now regretted that he had allowed his wife to talk him out of it.

Suddenly shots rang out. Not just one or two, but numerous shots. They seemed to go on and on in a fashion, almost but not quite, like a machine gun. The crowd of people scattered. All except those who wouldn't ever go anywhere, ever again.

That's when her cell phone rang. She answered it to hear;

"Kathy, are you guys alright?"

It was Bob. He lived across the street. She knew he was a veteran, but never really paid much attention to what he talked about. He was such a paranoid person.

"Yes Bob, we are still here."

"O.K. I'm in the front yard. I'm coming for you. Get everyone ready to move to my place."

"Why?"

"Maybe I'm mistaken, but you don't seem to be ready for what is going on today." Half jokingly he asked, "Do you want me to leave?"

"NO, no. Wait a minute, we are coming out."

“Hold on."

Another shot was heard. Then she heard Bob say;

"That one was faking it. Alright, come ahead. And let's be quick about getting across the street."

Kathy and Tim both did what they could to keep the children from witnessing the dead bodies in the yard, and near the front door, but there was no way to prevent them from seeing at least some of the carnage.

She looked at Bob as they started to jog to his house. He was carrying a small rifle with an unbelievably long magazine sticking out of it. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the term "banana clip" surfaced. She noticed a second one sticking out of one of Bob’s back pockets. He was also wearing what seemed to be a bullet proof vest.

They moved as quickly as they could, but with young children in tow their speed was somewhat reduced. Still, in just a couple of minutes they were in Bobs' home. They noticed that the over-sized glass doors in his living room were boarded up, all except for a couple of small slits cut into the wood. Under these slits were sand bags stacked up to just below the level of the cut out. Between the cut outs were weapons leaning against the walls, with boxes and boxes of ammunition.

The smaller two children were taken into one of the back bed-rooms, and told to wait for a few minutes. Bob went into the garage, and started his generator, which made surprisingly little noise, since he had added additional baffles to the exhaust. Returning to the children, he turned on a T.V. and put a suitable tape into the old fashioned V.C.R. and began the show to keep them busy while the older folks talked.

He then went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Their older two sons sat in the living room while Kathy and Tim sat in the dining area and watched in amazement. It was almost as if nothing had changed in Bobs' home. T.V. with coffee. The food in the fridge was cold, and the ice maker could be heard filling with water in the freezer. If it weren't for the boarded up windows, and the pistol that never left Bobs' hip, it might be just like any other night, before it had all started.

"O.K. folks, coffee will be ready in a moment. But if you'll excuse me, I'm in the mood for something a bit more stout."

With that, he opened a cabinet, pulled out a bottle of Rum, and poured himself a drink.

"Alright. I think we need to have a talk. After the events of today, I don't think I'm going to have to try too hard to convince you both that you need to have some weapons. Do I?"

Bob was almost shocked when Tim answered.

"Bob, don't get me wrong, we are truly thankful for what you have done. But Kathy and I talked this over a long time ago, and agreed to not keep weapons in the house. As a matter of fact, I think maybe you should make sure that none of your guns are loaded around the kids."

Bob couldn't believe it.

"Tell me something Tim, does it hurt very much?"

"Hurt? I’m not hurt. What are you talking about?"

"Being THAT stupid has got to be physically painful. Both of your vehicles have been trashed. The same is true for the front door of your house. When you came out, all you had was a baseball bat. How much did you expect to do with that?"

The older man shook his head, and continued.

"Son, all you were going to do was die. And I don't even want to think about what was going to happen to your wife and daughters. Maybe even your sons, if those gang bangers were sick enough."

He paused long enough to take a drink from his glass, and continued.

"You people almost died today. And I promise you, that death would have been very ugly and painful. It nearly happened because you have no way to defend yourselves. Now you want me to disarm myself? It's not going to happen. What are you thinking?"

Kathy looked at Bob, as he spoke, with renewed respect. It was true he was sometimes a little rough around the edges, but you always knew where you stood with him. There wasn't anything wishy-washy about him. He didn't often give his word, but when he did, you knew he would keep it, or die trying. He was nothing less than whole-hearted in everything he did. And while politically conservative, he was usually liberal with his words of wisdom. Like the time two years before when he was helping Tim remove a couple of trees that had died and were endangering their home. He worked hard that day, side by side with Tim, for most of the day. At one point, she had brought him a glass of iced tea and suggested that he should leave the rest of the cleanup of the downed trees to Tim and her two oldest sons.

"You've been working hard all day, and that is good enough. Tim and the boys can finish."

Bob gratefully accepted the tea, took a drink, and said;

"Kathy, haven't you ever noticed how 'good enough' usually isn't?"

He took another swallow, then set the glass down, and went back to work. For Bob, honor wasn't a word. It was a way of life.

"Tim, wait a minute. Bob is right.” She saw him start to speak and stopped him. “Hold on. Hold on. I know I was the one that was against having a gun in the house. I was wrong Tim. Today proves how wrong I was. We aren't going to get through this without them."

Tim looked at his wife. Surprise plain on his face.

"Honey, are you sure about this? Neither one of us has ever held, let alone used a gun before. I don't even know how to load one."

"When we were in the house, and those people were outside, breaking in, I wanted a gun. I wanted to stop those people by whatever means necessary. I think we can get some instruction on how to shoot, can't we Bob?"

"That can be arranged. In fact, I think since you now own some weapons, it would be a very good idea."

"Bob? What are you talking about? We don't own any guns."

"Sure you do. I happen to know that you own at least one shotgun and four or five pistols. I saw them out there on your front lawn. After all, the former owners are hardly likely to complain about it."

Kathy wondered. How did he come up with these wise words so easily.




Tim felt sick. Just like many Americans, he'd seen the war movies. When veterans talked, he heard the stories. But nothing he had seen or heard prepared him for this. He just wasn't ready for the reality of just how much of a mess that a bullet could make of a man. Nobody had ever mentioned the horrible smell either.

"Check the pockets for spare magazines and ammo." Bob called out. "Try not to miss anything of value. Anything we can use to defend ourselves. Radios, knives, or anything at all. That one closest to the door was the first one I put down. I saw him stick a handgun in his waistband before he started on the glass. Roll him over and get it."

Tim noticed the bullet had hit the dead man in the back of the head. He rolled the body over to retrieve the pistol and made the mistake of looking at what was left of the face. This time he did get sick.

After a few moments he heard,

"Tim, Are you O.K. now?"

"I think so. Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we're done. Lets' go."

As they again carefully crossed the street, checking both directions to see if they were being observed. Tim spoke again.

"Bob, how long do you think it will be before we can move back into our home? After that mess is cleaned up I mean."

"Tim, I wouldn't recommend that. We've been lucky so far. They got badly hurt the first time. They are licking their wounds right now, but they will be back. And they will be in greater numbers. Your place is totally indefensible. There are too many windows, and other places like your sunroom, where it can be broken into. Thin walls and those glass doors that lead out to the pool. I'll bet you don't even have the first sheet of plywood to cover any of that glass, do you?"

Tim shook his head.

"Even if you could secure that place, you have no food to speak of, no generator to power the stove, or any other means of preparing food. And you STILL need to learn how to shoot. With just a few handguns, and a pump shotgun, you won't last long when they do come back."

"What about you? You're only one man. Your house has a lot of glass as well. Aren't you worried about it?"

Bob smiled grimly.

"I may have gotten out of the service many years ago, but I still know a few tricks. Have you noticed how any opening big enough for a man to get through has been either boarded up, or the opening has been at least partially blocked off?"

"Sort of, but what about your front door? It is still wide open."

"Yes, it is. I WANT them to come to that door. You can't get close to it without being in the open. That makes them a perfect target. Truth is, Son that I've arranged for them to come that way. I'm channeling them into a shooting gallery."

"You are still just one man."

"Yes, but have you ever heard of something called 'force multiplication'?"

"No."

"We'll discuss it later. Right now, lets’ get back inside so we can get started on your education."

After what Tim had said earlier about unloading weapons to keep the children safe, Bob had no illusions of how things were going to go next.

"Bob! You can't be serious. Sammy and Tommy are just BOYS. They aren't ready for anything like this." Kathy exploded.

"Kathy, they WERE boys. After today, that childhood is at an end. From here on out, they are young men. How old are they now? 14? 16?"

Kathy nodded.

"You know as well as I do that in some places your older boy would already be looking for a wife. Both of them would be expected to contribute to the welfare of their tribe or whatever, by hunting, and even fighting should that tribe be attacked."

"But this is America! We aren't some third world country."

Bob sighed and shook his head. "This WAS America. The world we knew and loved is as dead as a stone, or hadn't you noticed? There are foreign troops patrolling the streets, doing whatever they please. They answer only to the President, while he is ruling by decree. And he’s done nothing to try to control them. Does that sound like the 'Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave' to you? It sure doesn't to me. You two better understand right now, all bets are off. NOTHING will be the same ever again. With those two having at least a handgun, we have doubled our chances of surviving. And extra two sets of eyes will help keep us safe."

"But that doesn't mean they have to have a gun!"

"Well, you tell me. What if something happens, and we get separated from one of them? And what if they run into people like those from this morning? Wouldn't you want them to be able to defend themselves? What if something happens to YOU?"

Kathy searched for something to say. If this were as little as two months ago, she would have just called the police. Now there were no police.

"Those young men NEED to learn how to shoot. Lives will depend on it."

 

[day late]

Shortly after this, Tim, Kathy, Sammy and Tommy, were gathered around the dining table watching as Bob explained the basics of handguns. Soon they were all able to load, unload, arm, and disarm the pistols. Bob was about to go into the workings of the pump shotgun when one of the younger children came out of the back room.

"Mr. Bob? Why is there a car battery in your hallway?"

"I had to leave it there for a little while. I didn't want those bad people to get it." He said.

"Oh. Mom, Dad, Mr. Bob, I think I saw some of those bad guys."

"Where did you see them?"

"Down by the end of the house."

"This is it!" Bob said, "Everyone grab a weapon. Remember what I told you. You don't have training to be marksmen, so just try to get the bullet somewhere close enough to scare them. If you can’t hit them, just try to keep them from shooting at us."

Each person old enough to carry a weapon, picked up one from the table, and moved to a separate view slit in the boarded up windows to which Bob had assigned them. It was Sammy that spoke up first.

"I see two of them out back. They just seem to be looking at the house. They aren't trying to get in."

"Nobody’s on my side." Kathy called out.

"Those two in the back yard are starting to go back where they came from." Tommy shouted from the far end of the house.

"Tim? What about you?"

"Nothing yet. Wait a minute. They are sneaking towards the front door. They’re right up against the wall."

Anything in the mirror?" Bobs' home was L shaped. The front door was located at the crook in the L. He had placed a small curved mirror above the door. Similar to the kind many truckers had on their rear view mirrors. That way a person in one part of the L could use it to see what was coming up on his blind side.

"Yes! I can make out at least three."

"Tim, do you remember me saying something about 'force multiplication'?"

"Yes."

"When they get within six feet of the door, tell me. Then get down."

"NOW!"

Bob touched three certain wires of several sticking out of the wall to the car battery. From the crook in the L, booby traps, buried just an inch under the ground, exploded. Bits and pieces of broken glass, nails, and even small stones fired outward and traveled along the outside walls in both directions. The gang members were lifted off their feet, and were thrown backwards. Only the ones nearest the end of the line got up to limp away.

"THAT'S what I was talking about."

After the bombs had been blown, a second group started to rush the back side of the house. A shouted warning from Tom and Sam was all that was needed. Two more explosions' went off in the back yard, with the same kind of result. Several gang members were cut down instantly. The rest of them backed off. NOTHING in that house was worth these kinds of losses. Soon there was nobody left outside. At least, nobody that was still breathing.



As soon as Bob and Tim had gathered all the weapons, spare ammo, and other things they might need from those who wouldn't need them any longer, they returned to the house. Both Tim and Kathy were surprised to hear Bob say;

"Time to pack up, and get out of Dodge."

"Why?” Kathy asked. “We've shown them it's not safe for them to come here, I don't think they'll come back after this. We have BOMBS for goodness sake. They don't what to mess with that."

Bob smiled to himself as he heard Kathy say 'We'. He said nothing, and let it pass. She was thinking of the group, not just her family or herself. It was a good thing.

"Kathy, that is exactly why we have to leave. Now, you've never served in uniform, so I don't expect you to see things as I do. They may not look like an army, but whoever is directing them knows military tactics. Just like an army in wartime, they move into an area, either pacify it, or burn it to the ground, then the move to the next area. Not always in a straight line, but always where they see the next biggest threat to them.

In a case like this, where they hit a strong point, standard procedure is to back off, and wait for more men to show up. They will be men with bigger and better weapons. We have to be gone before they get here. And they'll never be weaker, or more disorganized, than now. We MUST go now."

"Bob! If we have to pack up, how do we leave right now?"

"We thank God for His provisioning. TOM, SAM, over here please."

Kathy wondered what he was saying, and was a little irked that Bob was ordering her sons around. But, so far, Bob had done everything he could for them, and had been right about the gangs coming back. She held her piece to see what he would say next, while noticing that he now addressed her sons in a more adult fashion.

"Tom, I want you to take the position by the view slits at the front door. Sam you take the slits in the first bed room on the right as you go down the hall. Either of you see anything at all, sing out loud and clear. Understand me? Good. Take your positions. Tim, Kathy, follow me please."

Bob turned and went to the door leading to the two car garage. He spoke as he moved through the door.

"Jesus said, just as in the days of Noah, so shall it be...' Well, I'm not as good of a carpenter, and I don't have time to build an Ark. So, we 'man the lifeboats'."

As Bob stepped aside, and in the garage Tim and Kathy could see Bobs' old pickup truck, and his late wife’s S.U.V. Both were packed for traveling, and strangely enough, pointed outwards.

Kathy sat down on the step. "Bob, this is too much. How could you know about all of this? I refuse to take another step, until you answer some questions."

"Kathy, ask your questions, but we are running short on time. I'll answer you, but Tim and I have work to do. Tim, come help me, please. We need to take out some of this canned food, and make a hollow space in the middle, behind the front seat, for the youngest two. You pass out the boxes, and I'll set aside the ones we're going to put back in."

He moved aside as Tim opened the door and got started.

"Kathy, to answer your first question, I have to ask, how did you NOT know?"

"Not know? What do you mean?"

"I know you two are Christians. You even invited me to your church after Nancy...Well, you know."

They knew. Nancy had been a very good neighbor. Always ready to help others, and do what she could for them. She even baked cookies and other treats for her children once in awhile, and on birthdays and other holidays. Then, one morning while on the treadmill at the gym, her heart just stopped. Nothing could be done to revive her.

"Anyway, do you remember when we first moved in, about ten years ago? I gave you a book, called 'Through the Fire, Without Burning' about Dimitru Duduman. You never read it did you?"

She shook her head.

"Everything that is happening now was prophesied in that book. Not in this much detail, of course, but an internal U.S. revolution is in there. The man who gave the prophecies went home to be with The Lord, in the mid nineties, but not one of his prophecies has failed. If you had read the book I gave you, you would be ready for today." Interrupting himself, he said, "That's good, Tim. Now we need to open the hatch and make a little space back there."

"Why?" Tim asked as he moved to do as he had been told.

"Either Tom, or Sam is going to sit back here as a rear guard. You'll have to choose which one."

"But our pastor told us we'd be taken out before anything bad happened. He even had all kinds of books on it, and scriptural verses to back him up as well."

"I'm sure he did. You know, I would be willing to bet he never explained away Matt. 24:29 to 31. In those verses, Jesus Christ, himself says he will return AFTER the tribulation. How long after? Do as Jesus said. Study Daniel and the other prophets. In the last part of Daniel, he says the anti-Christ will rule for 1260 days. In another place it is 1290 days. Then he says 'Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh unto the one thousand three hundred, five and thirtieth day.' What would make him say something like that?
Go back to Matt. 24. What happens just after the tribulation? 'Then shall appear the sign of the son of man appearing in the east.' Not to mention how so many preachers will quote Paul when he speaks of us being taken out of here in 1 Thess. 4:16. And yet they completely ignore what is said in the verse just before the one they use.

1Thes. 4: 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Alive and remain? Unto the coming of The Lord? That clearly identifies that time as after the Tribulation. Kathy, if you have studied your bible, then you should know all this. As Paul said to Timothy, 'Study, to show thyself approved unto God.'" Again he turned and spoke to her husband. "O.K. Tim you grab the duct tape and follow me. Kathy, would you turn on the head lights please?"

She climbed into the four wheel drive, and the lights came on.

"Alright, this little trick is called 'cats' eyes'. We are going to tape across the headlights, side to side, and up and down until there is only a small slit showing. You won't be able to see much, but neither will they. Just go slow and stay on my rear. Kathy, watch the light from the head lights on the door. Tell me when the shadow blocks out everything above the hood."

Bob pulled out a piece of duct tape and held it in front of the headlight. With Kathy to guide him he soon stuck the tape over the light, blocking out much of it, and wrapping it well around the side of the truck as well as across the front grill. He then applied more tape to the lower part of the light until there was only a space about a inch high, and three inches long allowing the light out. Passing the tape to Tim, he said;

"Do the same to the other headlight. Use what you can see shining on the door to be your guide."

"This is going to ruin your paint."

"I think I'll get over it."

As they began to repack the S.U.V. Kathy couldn't help but notice the sheer volume of food. While Bob and Tim were covering the headlights and tail lights with the duct tape to help hide their movement, she looked into the pickup. Behind the front seat were a number of weapons as well as box after box of ammunition. Sitting next to them was a water purifier. Then there was another box about a foot square with nothing but bars of soap. On and on it went, both in the front of the truck, and in the bed.

"Bob? How in the world did you ever get all this put together? I don't think you've missed anything. How did you find the time and money to do all of this?"

"A wise man once said, 'Do something, and do it right now. No matter how big or small, if you do anything, it is infinitely better than sitting around later thinking about what you should have done'. A wiser man, Paul said to do all we can, and then stand. ALL is a pretty broad term, so I did what I could, a little at a time, and now I'm here.

I don't think I have to mention that weapons would be a good idea. As today has proved the first two people at the scene of any violent crime are the criminal and the victim. Kathy, you know I'm not a criminal, but I refuse to be a victim. As for all of this," He waved his hand at the parked vehicles. "It was a little at a time. I buy a big bag of rice this week, I eat next month. I also buy another extra bag of rice as often as I can. If not rice, then spices, ammunition, all kinds of things. The point is DO SOMETHING, and DO IT NOW. If you wait, you lose. Maybe some money, maybe your life, but you still lose."

"Okay I understand that, but I mean where did you find all of this stuff? Didn't anyone ask why you were getting all of this? I can't imagine you walking out of the store with a box of bar soap under your arm."

"As I said. Bit by bit. Nobody thinks a thing about someone buying one or two bars of soap. They don't even remember it, even if you do it every week to ten days or so. That helps to keep a low profile. It also helps when you spread your purchases out over several stores. One other thing, you would be amazed at some of the deals you can get at garage sales."

"Garage sales? Are you serious?"

"Yes I am. You know we had them. Truth is, that's where the box of soap you mentioned came from. Garage sales allowed me to take advantage of things like that, camping equipment, and other things, while gaining experience in the fine art of bargaining at the same time." He paused to pick up a stuffed back pack from the bed of the truck. She saw the letters 'U.S.' stamped on the bag. Bob spoke again. "Like this thing. A brand new U.S. Army issue ruck sack with a waist band. They asked for ten, I countered with five and we settled on seven. It was a bargain at ten."

"How did you explain all of this to Nancy?"

"Sometimes I had a reasonable answer for her, like the generator. Other times I just bought things and when she insisted I return it to the store, I just had to stick to my guns and refuse. She didn't like it, but she had no real reason to complain about it, so she eventually gave up. The things I picked up in garage sales that didn't work out, either went to a charity, or were sold in our next garage sale."

 

[day late]

Chapter Four


Reports were coming into the Presidents' office, from the Regional Directors. Things were going well. All major cities and towns were, if not pacified, at least under siege. Confusion in those places was the order of the day. That was good. Food shortages were bound to be next. The more the population was confused, the weaker they were, the less the chance for any kind of organized resistance. Being encircled, nothing and nobody got in or out. The useless eaters in them were on their own, with no chance for outside help.

Out in the countryside, things weren't going quite so well. In many places there was resistance to the rabble of invading gangs, but that meant when the troops were done doing their job in the cities, there would be fewer to resist them when they moved out into the surrounding hills, valleys, and flat lands. The unknowing cannon fodder that the gangs really were would have done their job by then. If they actually managed to take over a town or two, that just meant the locals would welcome their deliverers with open arms, just as they had done in the cities. True, there were a few places where things could have gone better, but that was already figured into the plan. After all, you can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs. Besides, no-one cared what happened to these vermin anyway.

Still, he was bothered about how things were turning out in the south eastern region, and in certain western areas. It could be, SHOULD be, going smoother. He picked up the phone. The conversation with the Southern Regional Director was short, sharp, and to the point. Eliminate resistance, or someone who could, would be found.

Director Claire put the phone down. His ears were still ringing with the Presidents' displeasure. Then he picked it up again.

"Find Jose' and get him in here. Now!" was shouted into the phone before it was slammed back down.

He sat down to look at the reports again. He hated to admit it, but the President was right. Things should be going much better than this. Here and there, throughout his region the MS-13 members that had been turned loose on the population were taking unacceptable losses. Those stupid red-necks out in the countryside were fighting back. Maybe they weren't organized yet, but they were doing a lot of damage. As he scanned the lists of known resisters' names, he couldn't help but notice that many of them were veterans of military service. Not all, but many of them.

Should these people get together, they already knew how to fight, and they knew how to give, and how to carry out orders. They could train others. They were an unacceptable threat. Then, there were the reports from some places, of people gathering in churches. Most of the time, the gangs waited for the doors to close, then moved in and began the slaughter. But there were a few churches, by the time MS_13 moved in to wipe them out, the entire building was empty. All vehicles from out front had simply vanished. He knew what it meant. They were getting help from 'the other side'. Helpers sent by 'the Nazarene'. The problem was he couldn't prove that.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Director Claire looked up as Jose' entered the room. What a mismatched pair they were. He stood there in his beautiful three piece suit, and Jose' walking in wearing torn jeans, a t-shirt, and a sleeveless jacket with the MS-13 colors and symbols, like the spider-web, sewn all over it. What could be seen of his arms showed tattoos that were much the same. He smelled of marijuana and beer, and walked with a cocky self assurance. Behind him came his number 1 man. Manuel, who looked very much like Jose', but each of them knew who was the head man.

"Hey, Director Claire. How’s' it going?"

"You've failed me!" Claire shouted; "You were supposed to have your area under control by now!"

"Hey man, you never told me that these dumb rednecks would shoot back like that. This is your fault, not mine."

Clair quieted and calmed himself.

"This is your country, these are your people, you should have known. You should have known what your enemies could do. You didn't and you've lost too many men, and the job still isn't done. You failed me."

With that, he picked up the pistol on his desk, and shot Jose' twice, in the classic style of an assassin. Once in the chest, to put him down, and a second to the head to make sure he stayed there. He then turned the weapon on Manuel.

"Looks like you just got promoted. YOU are the head man now. You know what I want. GET IT DONE!!!"

Wisely, Manuel backed out of the room, keeping his eyes glued to the pistol, until he could make a dive for the door, and out of the line of fire.

Claire pushed a button on his desk,

"Get someone in here to clean up this mess."



"Alright, we need to be going." Bob said. "I think it best if we put Tim behind the wheel of the SUV, I'll drive my truck. Like I told you, either Tom or Sam needs to be in the back, the other one will ride next to Tim. The smaller children ride just behind him. Kathy, you ride with me."

"Why can't we all ride together? The kids and us I mean." Kathy asked.

"Two reasons. First, to do that means we have to leave more food behind. Second, I could use someone riding 'shotgun' with me. Kathy, I truly feel that Tim is the better choice for the SUV. Those young men will need his guidance.' Bob smiled briefly, "Besides' you are the one with the most questions, and I did promise answers."

"What about the generator?" Tim asked.

"Leave it. Where we are going, the noise and light might give us away. Think of this as an extended camping trip."

Tim, Kathy, Tom, Sam, the children, and Bob gathered in the kitchen for a prayer of protection and guidance before moving to the garage and pulling the vehicles out. It was just starting to get dark. He was happy to see that the lights, both front and rear, which had been taped over, gave just a small amount of light. At this point, Bob stopped, reached underneath his seat, and pulled out a half dozen roadside flares.

"I'll be right back." was all he said.

Bob re-entered the home, alone. As he walked down the hallway, memories of his life here with Nancy, and their son, flooded his mind. The Persian carpets muffled his footsteps for what he knew was the last time. He gazed briefly at the photos, and art work Nancy had collected over the years. He wondered for the thousandth time if his son had managed to survive everything so far, and how he was doing. He wished he could go to his son, and help him, as he had done so many times before. He knew it was out of the question. The young man was too far away, and in one of the cities that was under siege.

Walking back to the bed room he and Nancy had shared, He took one last longing look. Then he ignited one of the flares, and tossed it onto their bed. Turning to the doorway leading to their sons' room, he did the same. Walking back through the house, he stopped only briefly at certain points, lit more flares, and left them burning on the furniture. He had decided long ago, if the time ever came when he was forced to leave his home, NOTHING would be left for those who forced him out to use against him, or anyone else, or to enjoy for themselves.

As he climbed back into the truck, Kathy looked at him. Then she stared through the windshield. It didn't seem the time to ask questions, and the tears on Bobs' face told the story. In fact, she remained quiet as they slowly made their way completely out of town. She was only a little surprised when Bob stopped once, got a pair of bolt cutters, and set to work on a fence that was blocking their way.

Instead of taking the main road, he had gone to the backside of their neighborhood, to a chain link fence that separated it from the development behind theirs. The fence was the only thing that prevented them from crossing from one to the other. After the fence was down, Bob drove across somebody’s back yard, hit the road out in front, and made his way to a secondary road leading out of town. He knew it was little traveled, and hoped because of that, it would be unguarded. He was right. Soon they were out of town and heading into the night. Behind them, the glow of a major fire could be seen.

Two hours later, Kathy realized that they were going to be following the service road for the railroad for some time to come. She had also noticed that the tears, and occasional sniff, from Bob had stopped. She began to ask her questions again.

"Bob, every step of the way, you have been ready for anything that happened. Now I think I understand what you were getting at with the Bible verses, and maybe I should have read that book, but even you said that nothing covered all this in fine detail. So how did you know?"

"You really haven't heard from them, have you?"

"Heard from whom?"

"The angels."

"What? Bob now you are scaring me. What do you mean 'the Angels'?"

"Just that, angels. You know the messengers of God. You see, it is just like the Bible says in Amos. 'God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants, the prophets.’ Now I'm no prophet. However a friend of mine, whom God has used prophetically in the past, told me that when the time came for me to leave my home and get to a place of His choosing, I would be warned in a visitation by an angel."

"That is a lot of faith on really thin proof. Bob."

"True. But you know what is written. 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' I placed my faith in what I believed to be a word from God. Like Noah, I moved to prepare an 'ark' without any sign that I was doing the right thing. I prayed about it a lot as well. Nancy always thought I was a little off center about it, but I did what I could." At the mention of her name, tears started to well up in his eyes again.

"Oh Bob. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. I'm sure you'll see her again, when we get to Heaven."

"No, I won't." he sighed. "Nancy wasn't a believer. She was a very good woman, and I loved her very much, but she refused to accept Jesus Christ as her Savior. I won't be seeing her again. I'm mourning her, and what she has lost."

Changing the subject, Kathy asked for more about the angels.

"So, did you get that visitation?"

"Yes I did. But before that, I got a dream. In the dream I knew I was traveling, and that Nancy's car was right behind me. I knew that I was running for my life. What I couldn't figure out was who was sitting beside me in the truck. I couldn't make out the face, and couldn't take my eyes off the road to look. As the dream started to fade, I was told, 'Be ready to help those I bring to you.' So even after Nancy was gone, I continued to make ready for whatever and whoever."

"So when did the angel show up?"

"Just before the gang bangers showed up at your place. I was told to stand for The Lord, and to rescue you guys."

"Was that all?"

Bob looked up for a moment and prayed.

"Show her, Lord. Please open her eyes for just a minute."

Kathy looked at him, wondering about his mental state. She looked back out the windshield, and gasped.

"Bob! There is someone sitting on the hood!"

"I know. He's been there since we left. When we get to a turn, he points the way to go, and I follow his directions."

"No, no. I mean there is someone on the hood that wasn't there a minute ago."

"Kathy, he's been there all along. You just haven't been able to see him. He's an angel. Look again"

Kathy looked out once more, and there was no sign of anyone on the hood, the dust on it was undisturbed, and there was no one along the dirt road they were traveling.

"Ummm, Bob. I think I'm going to be quiet for a while."

"That’s probably a good idea. It is a bit much when you actually see an angel. I'm sure you have much to think about. Just think about this also. A lot of good Christian people have died since this whole thing began. We all have the same promise that The Father loves us and will do what is best for us, if we let Him. Who am I to say what is best for me in an hour, a day, a year, or whatever. That's in His hands. All I can do is to trust and obey."

On that, Kathy knew she could agree. As she sat silently after the angel had disappeared from her sight, she looked out the window of the truck, watching the scene go by. It was just after the full moon, which allowed her to see, and aided in the night driving with such little light coming from the headlights.

She had much to think about. She had always respected Bob. Though she admitted to herself that at times he did seem to be a little different. While others embraced the latest technology, Bob seemed to be going the opposite direction. He relied on things that had to be worked manually. Like the time Tim had his electronic log splitter die while cutting up logs to be split for the fireplace that coming winter. Bob, as always, was helping Tim with the chore.

"I guess that's it for today." Tim had said. "I was hoping to get this finished today."

"So, let's finish." Bob had said.

"How? The splitter is dead."

"Just watch."

Bob had gone to his garage across the street. He put some things in his pick up and driven back to where Tim stood, wondering what Bob was up to. Bob parked and started to unload his equipment. In just a short time he used metal fence posts and metal plates to assemble a rectangular box like structure. The upper plate had a log splitting wedge welded to it, pointed down. Then he bolted a hydraulic car jack to the lower part. The placed another metal plate on the top of the jack. He reached over and picked up one of the logs and placed it on the jack plate, and began to pump the jack. Slowly the log rose until it came in contact with the wedge, and then was split in two as the jack continued to push it higher. Once the pieces had fallen aside, he lowered the jack and grabbed the next log. Placing it on the jack, he looked at Tim and said, "Your turn."

The wood was split and stacked before the end of the day.

"Whatever gave you the idea for that?" Kathy had asked when she saw it.

"My determination to make sure my family stays warm in the winter. Well, that and the fact that I don't like being totally dependent on high technology. As today shows, sometimes that technology breaks down at exactly the wrong time. So don't depend on it. Depend on God and yourself."

After the events of today, she now understood what he had meant much better. Looking out the window as she thought, Kathy suddenly realized she had no idea where they were.

"Where are we Bob?"

"We’re about twenty-five miles northwest of town."

"I don't recognize anything around here. Are you sure?"

Before answering, Bob reached into the pocket on the back of Kathy's seat. He pulled out a large well worn book, and handed it to her.

"This is a 'back roads' atlas. It shows every jeep trail and cow path known in the state. I've been using it for years. Back roads may not be the shortest way to get somewhere, but when the traffic is backed up because of an accident or something, on the main roads, they can be a lot faster. I think I've driven every back road in this part of the state over the past few years. And tonight, that knowledge becomes priceless."

 

[day late]

"Wait a minute. I thought you were following the directions of the angel." Kathy said.

"I am. He showed me we need to keep going this direction, and left us a few minutes ago. As long as we follow his directions, I'm not worried."

"Bob after everything today, not to mention the angel on the hood, I believe you are hearing from God. Has he told you anything about our future?"

Bob sighed. "Kathy, it is like I've always said. If you know the scripture, you know what happens from here on out. Things do nothing but get worse until the return of Jesus."

"Worse! Bob we are running for our lives. How can it get worse?"

"Remember Job? He lost everything but his wife and his integrity. And she was telling him to curse God and die. I don’t think there is much more to lose than that."

"I guess I need to refresh my understanding of The Bible." She fell silent again as she thought about things. She noticed that Bob, who had been traveling slowly, to start with, was slowing even more.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I’m just making a turn that I've been looking for."

"Turn? There aren't any roads around here, are there? I mean there isn't anything but pasture land around here that I can see."

"I know, and I mean no offense, but you are looking for the wrong thing. You are thinking of paved roads. Kathy we can't afford such comforts at this time. Ah. Here we are."

Kathy looked out the window in time to see a sign go by as Bob turned off the pavement.

"BOB! That sign said 'DANGER! GAS UNDER PRESSURE', do you think this is a good idea?"

Bob chuckled to himself. "I hardly think we have anything to worry about. I don't think The Lord would bring us here just to get blown up. Besides, this is a good thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Your reaction tells the story. You're concerned about something happening to us. Don't you think others feel the same way? That means we are unlikely to find anyone down this service road for the gas line. The same can be said for electric power lines, and railroad tracks. They all have service roads that are rough, but usually passable. They aren't well traveled and allow us to move undetected.

Yes, I do believe The Lord knows where He is taking us, and just how to get us there. The only thing left for us is to trust and obey."

Kathy fell silent again as the vehicles bounced down the service road. Her mind was a whirl with all kinds of thoughts. After what she had seen so far this day, she had to agree with one thing. All that was left was to trust and obey.

Dawn was fast approaching. Kathy was doing her best to try to get some sleep when she and Bob were both startled when her phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and looked at the screen to see who was calling, and so she wasn't ready when Bob hit the brakes.

"What happened?"

"Don't answer that." Bob said.

"It's alright. It's just Tim."

"Kathy, don't answer that and let me have it."

Wondering what the excitement was about, she handed him the phone. Bob opened the door with a quick, "Come with me." over his shoulder and headed back to Tim and the S.U.V. She caught up with him just in time to hear him say to her husband, "Give me the phone."

"Who are you calling?" He asked as he handed it to Bob.

"Nobody. And neither are the two of you."

With that, Bob removed the battery from each phone, then turned and threw both phones and their batteries as far into the brush as he could.

"HEY! Bob, that's an expensive phone. What are you doing?" Tim demanded.

"I'm sure it is. Listen to me, both of you. Do you remember the commercials that they used to have where all the different companies claimed to have more bars, in more places than anyone else?"

They both nodded yes.

"Have you considered what that really means?"

"It shows the signal strength." Tim said.

"That is only half of it. The way these phones work is by sending out a signal to the nearest cell tower. THAT tells the tower where you are. The information is sent by the tower to the main system. That way the system knows where to send the incoming calls. So anyone who has access to the providers system only needs to ask where such and such a number is currently located, and you are caught. What good is it to hide anywhere and then tell your enemies where you are by a simple phone call?"

Bob saw Tim about to speak and waved him to silence.

"I know what you are going to say Tim. Turning the phone off doesn't work. It still keeps in contact with the towers even while off. And even if you take out the battery, as soon as you put it back in, the phone contacts a tower and your right back where you started. The same is true of lap tops, or any other device that you communicate with. If you have anything like that, get rid of it right now."

"Mr. Bob, does that include my C.D. player?" Tom asked from his place in the back of the S.U.V.

"No Tom. Your C.D. player is safe."

"I'm sure glad to hear that."

The adults couldn't help but laugh at the statement.



As he arrived at the scene, Manuel was actually relieved. The house that had cost them so dearly yesterday was nothing but smoking ruin now. He didn't know, or care how it happened, or who did it. The problem was solved, that was good enough for him.

"Hey Manuel, I think we have a problem." one of his men said.

"I don't want to hear about problems. I just what to hear what you've done. Like this." he said pointing at the burned down home. "That is a good piece of work. Did any of them come out, or did they just burn alive?"

"We don't know, and that is the problem. Nobody admits to starting the fire. And there is something else. There aren't any cars. It’s like they left, and the place just burned down on its own."

That wasn't good, Manuel knew. They were supposed to kill all who fought back, not let them escape.

"Don't mention that to anyone else. As far as you know, everyone died in the fire."

"What about the cars?"

"Say they were stolen by someone else, just don't mention this to anyone, ever again! Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure."

It wasn't long, before Manuel decided he knew what Jose's problem had been. He didn't ask for enough firepower from the start. Since he had gotten extra weapons, and bigger weapons, places of resistance began to fold like a house of cards. In many places, there were a number of resistors taken prisoner. For them, it was short and not so sweet. First they were taken to the stadium and held until the 'special' train arrived. Then they were loaded onto the train, and taken away. Where they went, and what happened to them, he didn't care.

Even better was the fact that now that there was no longer anyone to stand against them, his men were going through each and every house and apartment they could reach. Valuables of all kinds were being taken. Food, drugs, jewelry, money, and even a few cute girls had been taken. More importantly, a share from each take made its' way into his private pile.

Manuel was enjoying some of his spoils, when the word came. The Director would be coming to see him. He wasn't worried. There wasn't any more fighting going on. He was in complete control. He went back to his amusement. The screams the girl made, pleased him all the more.

Director Claire didn't wait for an escort. Everyone knew who he was, and tried to avoid him. When he opened the door to the office Manuel was using as his headquarters, he saw the girl lying on the floor, nude from the waist down, and quietly crying. He kicked her to the side and walked up to the desk where Manuel sat, having a beer and a cigarette.

"What is going on here?"

"What? You mean her? We were just having a little fun, that's all."

"I don't care about her. I gave you a job to do. I notice that there are a lot of names missing from the list of the dead. Where are they?"

"Hey Mr. Director, slow down. Take it easy. There were a lot of fires around here. We don't even know how many resistors died in them, let alone how many are on your list. Besides that, you wanted all resistance in this area to end. Have you heard any gun shots? There isn't anyone standing against us anymore. What are you complaining about?'

"I'm complaining about the names missing from this list." Claire stated.

"A lot has happened in the past day. Give me a chance to catch up with what you want."

"You have 24 hours to find out where the people named on this list are at." Claire shouted, as he threw the list across the room at Manuel. Claire turned, and started to leave the room. The girl he had kicked, un-noticed, as he entered had crawled to one side. She lay there trying to recover from the abuse Manuel had heaped upon her. Claire stopped and looked at her.

"So, how was she?"

"Not bad. Mr. Director."

"We'll see." Claire said. Then he reached out and grabbed the girl by the hair, and dragged her from the room, behind him.

 

[day late]

Chapter Five


Within 18 hours, Manuel realized three things. First, none of those who followed him much liked the idea of searching burned out ruins for certain dead people. Second, many of those whom the Director wanted were indeed dead. Some died in the fires that engulfed their hiding places, others were killed when they chose to stand and fight against the gangs and their re-enforcements. Third, He didn't like taking such unpleasant orders from anyone, much less The Director.

Meanwhile, Director Claire realized that there was far more on the line than he thought at the first. It was bad enough that the over-all director wanted answers that he didn't have, but even the President wanted those same answers. But he still didn't have them. He knew he could put off any retribution for awhile by pointing out that while it had taken longer than expected, his region was at last pacified. And after all, everyone knew that pacifying the southern region would be a tough nut to crack. That would be enough to buy him some time to get his hands on the rest of those who wouldn't accept the reality of the New Order.

He looked over at the nameless girl cowering in the corner of the room. He had his doubts about how well Manuel was going to work out in the grand scheme of things. She wasn't as good as he had been lead to believe. Still, there was something he couldn't resist about her helplessness. Unbuckling his belt, he stood and moved towards her, for the third time that day.



Bob pulled the truck over into a wooded area. As the vehicles stopped, it took only seconds for everyone to get out and stretch their legs.

"Bob, why did we stop?" Kathy asked.

"Would you go into hostile country without a guide?" he asked.

"No."

"That's why we stopped. Our guide is gone."

"You mean the angel?"

"Yep, I do. And when he says stop, and then disappears, I think it is a good idea to wait for him to return."

"How do you know he'll come back?"

Bob smiled, "God hasn't lead me this far, just to leave me now. He has a reason, all I have to do is wait on Him to tell me what to do next."

“Bob, I understand that we might be under judgment, but why? America has done a lot for God and his kingdom. Why would He judge us?"

"The scriptures say that judgment begins at the house of God. If America is God’s chosen land, and His chosen people, why not start His judgment with us? And as far as that goes, the scriptures say the He will NOT hold blameless those who shead innocent blood. We have been killing over 4,000 babies A DAY through abortion, for years."

From the bushes came a voice, "And what blood could be more innocent than the unborn?"

Bob whirled at the sound, pistol in hand, ready to fire. As the young man came out of the woods, Bob did something he had never done before in his life. The weapon fell to the ground, completely forgotten.

"ALEX!"

"Hi, Dad."

Bob ran with a speed, he thought he no longer had, to embrace his son. Kathy and Tim were lost on whether they should watch the reunion, or turn their backs considering the privacy of the moment.

After a long embrace, Bob pushed his son to arms length. "How did you get here? What happened to you? Are you alright?" The questions tumbled out of his mouth almost faster than he could form them.

"Hey Dad, take it easy. I'll answer you, but first, do you guys have something to eat? I've been here for three days with almost nothing."




Director Claire hung up the phone. He had been right so far. While his superiors weren't entirely pleased with his lack of progress in bringing his area under control, they accepted his excuses when he was able to provide the names of many of the resistors and proof of their death, to them.

Still he knew that he was in trouble. His area should have been pacified sooner. Up to this time, everything had come off without a hitch. Scalar attacks, which had created the earthquakes in California, had done a great deal of damage. Millions had been killed. Their master had been pleased with that sacrifice. He had also been pleased when the mega-hurricane had hit the eastern part of the country. It had seemed a waste to him. If a nuke had been put to use on the Hoover Dam, in his opinion the damage would have been much greater. But it wasn't his right to question what the master wanted. That was a very unhealthy thing to do. Right now, he had to get things back on schedule. These people, mostly those hated Christians, HAD to be either captured, or killed. What was it they said in this country? 'Failure is not an option.' he remembered. Well, that was certainly the position he was in, and things were not going his way.

He knew it was time to become inventive. Something had to be done to get these people out of hiding, but what? Slowly an idea came to him. Not an idea really, but a memory from a little over a half a century or so back.

What was that Jews' name? It didn't matter. He remembered the Jewish leader in Warsaw during the early years of WW II. He had convinced him that it was in the best interest of his people to not fight the Germans, But to live in the ghettos they had sent up. Once the vast majority of them were in the ghettos, they had starved them into a weakened state. When they Jews started to fight back, they had nowhere to run. It was slaughter, pure and simple. The master had been pleased with that one. All he had to do was find someone the Christians would trust, and do it all over again. He might even have to appear to this fool as an angel of light, but it would work. He knew it would. Now all he had to do was find one of those types among the prisoners.

He glanced at the body in the corner. Again, he had his doubts about Manuel. She didn't last any time at all. However, this was Manuel's last chance to prove himself, otherwise, he would be replaced just as Jose' had been. He stabbed a button on the desk.

"Bring me the list of all the preacher prisoners. And get someone in here to clean up this mess."


Alex was happily eating his third sandwich from the ones Kathy had quickly made just before they had left home. Not surprisingly, Bob never left his side, waiting patiently for his son to finish, before asking anything more. It was Tim who finally remembered the pistol on the ground, and had given it back to Bob, after brushing off the dirt. After accepting it, with thanks, Bob had quickly taken it apart, checked it to make certain all the dirt had been removed, reassembled the weapon, and then returned it to the holster.

"That was so good." Alex said, "Thank you very much." Turning to his father he spoke again. "Dad I owe you an apology. All those things you told me over the years, since they didn't happen right away, I started to doubt you. After awhile, I just quit listening. Now, I know you were right, and I was really dumb not to listen to you. I'm sorry."

"Forget it son. I knew you had quit listening to me some time back. But I still had to warn you. I still kept on praying for you. And you have no idea how happy I am to see you again. So tell me. How did you get here? The last I heard, your town had been surrounded."

Alex smiled, "I may have been mistaken not listening to you, but I'm not totally stupid. Let me start back at the beginning. You see, three days ago, just like everyone else, I was sitting at home. Just before martial law was declared, I had filled my gas tank in case I had to run. Then, well Dad, I know you will believe me, but the rest of you will have to take my word for it, I was sitting in my apartment wondering what was going to happen next, and what to do about it, when an angel showed up. I've got to tell you, it really shook me up."

Out of the corner of his eye, Bob saw Kathy look over at him with a knowing look, but she said nothing.

"Anyway, the angel told me that I had to leave. I didn't even have time to pack a lunch. He literally forced me out the door, down the stairs, and into the car before I could do a thing. Now here is the funny part. Do you remember the 'back roads atlas' you gave me awhile back? I left it in the trunk. But all of a sudden it was in his hands, and he traced out a route for me to take. And the really strange thing is the route he pointed out became kind of 'highlighted' and stayed that way. Then he disappeared. I just followed the map until I got here. When I did, the car just died, and I haven't been able to get it started since then. I've still got gas, and there is nothing wrong with it that I can figure out, it just won't start. I think I know why now."

"I think so too."

"So, what do we do now?"

"We wait. Let me tell you something. We've had an angelic guide to get us here. Just as we stopped, he left. I don't intend to do anything until he comes back."

"Okay, okay, I've listened up to now without saying anything, but come on guys, angelic guides? Who do you think you are kidding?" Tim said.

"Tim, I've seen one of them too. He was sitting on the hood of Bob's truck, pointing the way here. Believe what they are telling you. It's true. I KNOW!" Kathy told her husband.

"Et tu, Kathy? How can you believe this? Why haven't they had anything to say to me?"

Bob answered. "Most likely, it’s because of two things. First, your own words show you don't believe that such a thing is possible. Second, what COULD they have to say to someone that doesn't believe in such things? You'd just find a reason to dismiss the warning. Like hallucinations or something. Point is, there is something about you two and your children that The Lord has seen, and He likes what He saw, or you wouldn't be here. You'd be lying dead in whatever may be left of your home."

As Bob sat next to his son, Kathy couldn't help but notice he was in fairly good shape for someone who hadn't had any food or water for three days. She had heard that a human couldn't last much over three days without water. Alex should be all but unconscious from dehydration.

"Alex. Don't get me wrong, but if you haven't had any food or water for three days, how can you be on your feet?"

"I know I said that, but it's not quite true, thanks to Dad. Years ago he taught me how to make different types of snares. By the way Dad, the rabbit snare was the only one that worked. Nothing tripped the others."

"What's a rabbit snare, and how do you make it?" Sam wanted to know.

"You first tie your shoelaces kind of like a lasso. Then, when you find a rabbit trail you push a stick into the ground on each side of it. Then hang the lasso between them, after you anchor it to one of the sticks or a big rock or something. When the rabbit comes along he gets his head caught in the lasso and the anchor makes sure he is still there when you come back. There are other kinds. I’ll show you when we get the chance."

"What about water?" Kathy asked.

"Oh, that was easy. I made an air well."

"Air well? I never heard of it."

"Come on, I'll show you."

Alex led Kathy, Tim and their children to a nearby clearing. There they found a sheet of plastic. It was held down by both dirt and rocks. On one side was a tube sticking out, and there was a rock in the center of it. The rock depressed the sheet so that it looked like a crater.

"This is my air well." Alex began. "Everyone knows there is moisture in the ground. Everyone also knows that the sun heats the ground and makes the moisture evaporate. So, what you do is dig a hole about a foot to a foot and a half deep and put a cup or some kind of container in the middle of the hole, with a tube leading from the container to the edge of the hole. Then cover the hole with a sheet of plastic. Seal the edges with dirt and rocks so that no moisture escapes and it will collect on the plastic. Now what you do is put a rock on the plastic right over the container. As the moisture condenses on the plastic the drops slide down the plastic and drop into the container. Then you just sip through the tube."

"Okay I understand how you might have plastic sheeting around, but where did you get you get the tube?" Kathy asked.

"Lets' just say I hope I don't have to use my windshield washers any time soon. Hey Dad, that guy in that movie was right about rabbits as well as dolphins."

"What?" Tim asked.

Bob answered. "There was an old movie called 'The Old Man and the Sea'. It is the story about an old man in a small boat who hooks a huge fish that drags him out to sea. The rest of the film is how he managed to stay alive until he made it back to shore. At one point he caught a dolphin. However in a small boat he had no way to cook it, so he ate it raw. His comment was something like 'Dolphin cooked is a very good fish. Dolphin raw is a bad fish.'." Bob looked at Alex. "Couldn't you get the flint and steel to work?"

"I was afraid to start a fire. I thought the smoke might give me away in the day time, and the light at night."

"That was probably wise."

 

[day late]

Bob stood and stretched. "It's been a long night for all of us. I don't intend to start out again until dark, or our guide returns, whichever comes first. I'd like to put Alex and Tom on guard together, while the rest of us get some sleep."

"If we are being protected, why post a guard? Don't you think that God can take care of us?" Tim asked.

"Certainly He can. But He also expects us to do whatever we can to take care of ourselves, and trust Him for the rest. Do you remember the story of Nehemiah? God had instructed him to get the walls around Jerusalem repaired. God could have protected him, but Nehemiah posted guards anyway. Seems like a good plan to me."

The radio they were listening to crackled to life early one morning as they readied themselves to rest. None of them expected what came out of it.

"Brothers and Sisters. Come out of your hiding places. The Lord has been purging this land. If you can hear my voice, I tell you, come out. Those whom Satan has sent to destroy us have been driven from the cities. I’m speaking of the gangs of murderous thugs that would terrorize entire neighborhoods. But now they now roam the countryside, where you are hiding. They are stealing and killing at will. But I have been visited by an angel. He has told me that this has all been part of the plan. These wicked men have been driven out of the cities, and now you must return to the cities, as a place of refuge. This will allow the soldiers that are here to help us, to go out into the highways and byways, and scour this evil of wicked and sinful men from our land.

Are you cold and hungry? Come back. Are you tired of running? Come back. Are you weak and faint of heart? Come back. The Lord understands what you have been through. He knows why you have been running. And now you are bidden, no, I say commanded, to come back.

Let these men who came here to rid our land of this scourge do what they came to do. Come back, my brothers and sisters. Bring your children with you. There is food coming into the cities once again. There is power for the heaters on these cold nights. There is pure clean water to slake your thirst. Come back I say, come back to the places where it is safe and warm. Come back to the places where there is food and water. Come back for God seeks to end this trouble, and doesn't want any of you to be caught up in the punishment of those who would do you harm. Come back and enjoy the blessings that are offered here."

The radio faded.

It had been a couple of days, and two hundred miles, since Kathy, Tim, Tom, Sam, Bob, and Alex had even considered listening to the radio. Now they sat and listened with unbelieving ears as the preacher spoke.

"Sounds like things are getting back to normal. Maybe we should go back." Tim said.

"I think you just may be right." Kathy agreed.

"You must be joking." Bob responded.

"But Bob, you heard him. Things are getting better in the cities. The gangs are gone. There's power, food, water, and safety. Why shouldn't we go back?" Kathy asked.

"Listen to me, both of you. We've gotten by so far because of our guide. He hasn't pointed the way towards any city. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Are you so ready to run back to the place you barely escaped from with your lives? Are you so ready to turn your children, and these young men, over to whatever agency says they are going to take care of them?

Let me tell you something that I learned in the service. Anyplace where you eat, sleep, or get water from, is the perfect place for an ambush. Why do you think trappers and fishermen use food as bait? You CAN'T go back there."

"I think you should listen to Dad." Alex said. "So far, he's been right on the money about everything he's said or done. That's good enough for me. I'd trust him more than any preacher on the T.V. or radio. It isn't just because he is my father, he's been right, every time. I can't argue with that."

That caused Tim and Kathy to stop for a moment and think. They knew what Alex said was true, but still, they longed for a hot shower, hot food, clean clothes, and a soft bed with warm blankets. The temptation was great.

"Bob, how can you be certain? I mean I haven't seen our guide since that first night. Are you sure you aren't just following you own instincts?"

"Kathy, you may not have seen him again, but I've been following his lead every step of the way. You remember what happened yesterday at the turn off, when you guys wanted to go a different direction?"

Kathy remembered, as did Tim. They were certain that they should keep going along the smooth road they had been following for a couple of hours, while Bob insisted that they turn off the road, onto a broken dirt trail. As they stood there, quietly arguing the matter, the sound of automatic gunfire came from what sounded like a quarter mile further ahead on the paved road. They stopped talking, and drove onto the dirt road.

"I can't tell you what to do." said Bob. "That is between the two of you and God. But let me ask you. Given all you know for a certain fact, are you ready to trade your safety, uncomfortable though it may be, for a hot meal, followed by some unpleasant people asking questions, in an unpleasant and probably very painful manner? Is that what you want?"

Tim spoke up after a couple of minutes.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't I go into one of these towns and check it out? If everything is alright, I'll come back and tell you."

"And what if you can't come back? Do you really want to leave Kathy and the children out here without you? Tim, I have to tell you, if our guide comes back while you are gone, we won't be here IF you manage to make it back. Or at least Alex and I won’t be. I can’t speak for your family."

The radio suddenly came back up.

"Brothers and Sisters, don't listen to those who tell you to stay in hiding. They are just afraid. They don't trust The Lord. We know that The Lord told us in His word that He is coming for us before the tribulation begins. I admit, times are difficult right now, but this is just the beginning of troubles, as it is written in The Bible.

If they are telling you that this is the beginning of the tribulation, don't listen to them. We aren't going to be here when that happens. We will be with The Lord, at the marriage supper. Come back to the places that have food, water, and safety. Come back, and join the true believers while we wait on The Lord to deliver us from these troubles."

The radio faded once again.

"Well, there you have it. Every type of bait they can lay out is right in front of you. Before you say anything, I want you to remember something. When we left, we left a lot of bodies behind us. I know that you didn't do anything. I was the one who is responsible for those gang bangers deaths."

"Uh, Dad? Is there something I should know here?"

"I'll explain later, son."

Bob continued. "Do you really think that anyone is going to listen to you? All they know is that there are dead people on the ground, and just after they died, you were missing. I do believe they will be more than a bit suspicious of you, and they will have some serious questions for you."

"Remember one other thing. Right now, the cities are death traps. Nobody who has entered them has gotten out again. Do you think that you are special? I don't think so. If you go into any city, you won't come out again."

"Then what are we going to do, Bob? We can't just wander around the countryside like a bunch of nomads." Kathy said.

"You haven't noticed it have you? Ever since we left we've been headed more or less westward. We are going to cross the Mississippi."




Claire was pleased with his pet televangelist. All that was needed to get the Christians to turn themselves in was to have someone say the right words, and they came running. True, not all of them were so easily fooled. Somehow that 'Nazarene' always managed to keep some small remnant from dying like they were supposed to do, that had always been the problem. But just like those Jews from Warsaw, many of these stupid Christians were like horses running back into a burning barn. All you had to have was someone to say the right words.

Claire was so pleased in fact, he had decided that this fool could be saved until nearly the end, since he was so convincing. He would be useful in maintaining control over the camps. He especially loved how the man had convinced so many it was their duty to obey whatever the government said to do, by quoting verses from that hated book, the Bible. One thing that surprised even him was how simple it was to convince them of the false doctrine. Just convince them that they are so special, because the Father of the Nazarene loved them. There wasn’t any way he would let His children go through that. After all, you wouldn’t let anything like that happen to your children would you? Besides, look at what is written here, and here, and here. The stupid monkey never realized that Claire not only knew that book better than he did, but had eons of experience misrepresenting what they actually said. What he thought made it even easier to do was that with such short lives, these creatures wanted as much pleasure and as little pain as possible. That made it easy for them to accept what was told them. They were so lazy that they all just found someone to tell them what they wanted to hear, and then they stopped actually reading that book. They just believed what they were told because it was easier.

Best of all, his superiors were much less upset at his earlier problems. Yes indeed. Things were starting to go much smoother. He could even afford some time off for recreation. He glanced at the twelve year old boy who sat naked and huddled in the corner of the room. Even this was going better. It looked as if this one was going to last longer than the girl had, and his screams were just as pleasing to Claire. Plus his futile attempts at both escape, and self defense were amusing to him. The kid didn't know just how out matched he was.

 

[day late]

Chapter Six



"Bob, are you sure we should be leaving now? I mean it is still daylight." Tim asked.

"We need to get to the river before dark. We have to find a certain man with a certain boat, in order to cross."

"How can you be sure we'll get across?"

"Remember who it is that we serve. Tell me something. How much gas is left in the tank?"

"The gauge shows full, but that can't be right. We've traveled at least four hundred miles. I thought it must be broken."

"It's not. The way I see it, if The Lord can fertilize the egg of a virgin, He can keep our tanks full, until we get where we are going."

"How do you do that Bob? Relate everything to what it says in The Bible, I mean."

"Tim, The Bible affects everything I do. What was the title of that song a few years ago?

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Yeah, it has a hand in everything I do. Because I believe that title is quite accurate"

"I'll vouch for that." Alex chimed in jokingly.

"Son, you be careful now. You know what they say about old dogs. Besides, you may be younger, stronger, and faster than me, but I'm still meaner than you."

"I’m just kidding, Dad."
“Old dogs?" Tim asked.

"Never tease an old dog. He just might have one bite left."

As they drew closer to the Mississippi River, Bob was starting to believe that they had left their troubles behind them. They had pulled all three vehicles to the side of the road for a rest break, just before a curve. Alex had gone deep into the brush to relieve himself, and now came out of the bushes in a hurry.

"Dad, I think we have a problem."

"What would that be?"

"I went kind of deep into the bushes to, um, well, you know. Anyway, I heard something. I went in a little deeper and I found out this road makes a hairpin turn. On the other side of the curve is a check point."

"Kathy, Tim, stay here with the children. Show me Son."

Together they quietly worked their way to the spot where Alex had seen the checkpoint. Sure enough, it was there. Three men with body armor, automatic weapons, and a four wheel drive S.U.V.

"What do we do? We have to go down this road or turn around."

"We can't turn around, Son. We've been led here for a reason. Let me think."

Bob looked at the scene, praying about it. Soon he had an idea. The S.U.V. wasn't blocking the entire road. These men clearly thought that just by being there with weapons would intimidate any who came down the road. That was their mistake.

"Alex, listen closely. Behind the drivers’ seat of my truck you'll find a small white box. Grab three of the soda cans in it, and bring them to me."

"Are you planning on bribing them with soda?"

"Just get them, Son."

Alex soon returned with the cans. He knew better than to argue when his father spoke in that tone of voice.

"Are these what you wanted Dad?"

"Yes. Thank you. Now here is what I want you to do."

"Wait a minute Dad. Why do these cans have fuses sticking out of them?"

"I'll explain later. I want you to drive my truck. Have Tim drive you mothers car, and Kathy drives your car. I want you guys to pull up to the checkpoint nice and slow. Just like nothing is wrong. When I make my move, hammer down and swing around their 4X4 and don't slow down."

"What move, and what about you?"

"Trust me. You won’t be able to miss it. Don't worry about me. I’ve got an idea or two. I’ll catch up with you as soon as I can, but you must keep moving."
“How far do we go?”
“No less than ten miles.”

He got back to the others, relayed his fathers’ instructions and not waiting for an argument, climbed into the truck, started the engine and pulled out in the lead.

The three vehicles pulled slowly up to the checkpoint. Alex tried to look for his father, without looking like he was looking for him. As he tried to watch the brush out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the soda cans come flying out of the woods with the fuse burning. Even before it hit the ground, a second can came from the same place. Then a third appeared. All of them began to spew out great clouds of smoke. He hit the gas. As the truck lurched forward, he saw smoke pour out of the first can, then the second. A thick cloud appeared from nowhere. It only got thicker as the third can also fumed. He followed his father’s orders and kept moving around the S.U.V. and didn't look back.

They were about ten miles down the road before Alex pulled over. The others did the same. They got out, talking about what to do. Before they could even really get started, the S.U.V. from the checkpoint pulled up behind them. Alex, Tim, and Kathy all grabbed weapons and prepared to fire.

"I hope you aren't going to shoot me." A familiar voice called out to them.

"Dad?"

"It's me, Son."

"What happened back there Bob?" Tim asked.

"And what were those cans?" Alex chimed in.

"As you guys got close, I threw the smoke grenades. That provided cover for you. While they were choking on the smoke, and trying to figure it out, I 'borrowed' their 4X4. They weren’t expecting to be blindsided like that."

"Where did you get smoke grenades?" Kathy wanted to know.

"I made them. First I got some of those half sized soda cans. Then I picked up what the local fireworks store called smoke grenades. Really they aren't. They don't make large enough amounts of smoke. I sliced them open and put the tablets or powder inside them in the empty soda cans. Add the fuse that came with them, and seal them with duct tape. Each can had about the equivalent of four of the store bought grenades. Makes a lot more smoke that way. Listen, it won't be long before they start looking for this car, and I want to be long gone before they find it."
“Why not just take it with us? Alex wanted to know.
“First of all, it’s another vehicle to keep under cover. We don’t need the trouble. Secondly, it might just have some kind of tracking device that doesn’t show. Why invite them to our camp? Come on. Let’s get on down the road.”


The convoy of vehicles made their way towards the river. Kathy and Tim had been taking turns riding 'shotgun' with Bob, and it was once again Kathy who sat next to him.

"Bob, Tell me something. How do we get across the river? As far as I've heard, there are road blocks on each end of every bridge. That means we need a ferry or something. But, lets' face it. Nobody is going to stick their neck out for us, without sticking out their hand, palm up, first."

"Long ago, while I was in basic training, my drill instructor pounded one thing into us day after day. Pardon my language, but he said, 'prior planning prevents piss-poor performance' and in all the years since then, I've never known that to fail. Now, I've planned for everything I could plan for. After that, I depend on The Lord. As Paul told Timothy, you do everything you can do, and having done all, Stand.'"

"So what's the plan now?"

"First, we find the vessel I’ve been told to look for. It should be somewhere around here."
“What’s its name?”
“It’s called, wait a minute. Here we are.” Bob nodded at a sign on the roadside, even as he made a turn going the opposite direction.

As with most rivers, many small fish camps and boat docks had sprung up over many years. These were communities where everyone knew everyone else. Strangers really stood out, and weren't trusted even before everything started to go bad. While martial law had virtually ended road traffic, on the river, it was a different story. With so many road blocks, trucks were constantly backed up on every road. Barges, ferries, and other watercraft, were pressed into service to help keep moving goods from one side of the river to the other. This had given the river men and women a bit more freedom than those who lived and worked on land. Besides moving things for the government, who didn’t pay all that well, it gave them the chance to make extra cash by taking paying parties across, to the inspection dock on the far side of the river. Sometimes they avoided the inspection docks, but that was much more expensive.

It was into one of these places that Bob had turned. He slowly made his way down to the docks, with Tim close behind in the 4X4 and Alex bringing up the rear in his small car. Bob pulled up by a barge-like boat, and stopped.

"Stay here." Was all he said as he got out and headed towards it. He could see two men working on the deck. As he drew near to the closer man he called out.

"Excuse me, Sir. Can you tell me where I might find the captain of this vessel?"

Without looking up the nearer man answered.

"You're talking to him."

"Very good, I’m glad to hear it. Captain, I'd like to get passage across the river for myself, three vehicles, passengers, and our stuff."

"Do you have any idea what you're asking?" The man said, then he looked up at Bob for the first time, and his jaw dropped.

"You!"

Puzzled Bob said, "Sorry Sir, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of making your acquaintance."

"I've seen you before. I was told....Wait a minute, you said three vehicles?"

Still curious Bob answered, "That's correct. Are you alright?"

"Fine, I’m fine. You remind me of someone I saw once, that's all. Three vehicles, passengers and cargo, $3,000 is the best deal I can offer you. You can off load at the inspection dock on the other side."

"Captain, I'll be honest with you, we don't have a lot of money. But there might be other things you would be willing to accept in exchange for passage."

"Such as?”
"Captain, are you sure you want to negotiate out here on the dock? Maybe there is some place a little more private where we could go."

"Hmmmm, alright. Come on board."

"Thank you, Sir."

The two men went to the wheelhouse of the boat, and the captain motioned Bob to one of the chairs sitting next to a small table.

"So, what exactly is it that you want?"

"As I said Sir, passage across the river. However I'd like to avoid any inspections on the far side."

"Well, that is the trick isn't it?"

"Can you do it, or should I look elsewhere?"

"I can get you across alright, but that kind of service comes at a higher price."

"Understood, Captain. But you recall I mentioned negotiation. Truthfully, we don't have a lot of money. However there might be something else you would accept as payment."

"I hope you aren't going to offer me an hour or so with a woman. I must get that at least six times a day, and my Mrs. doesn't like it."

"No, not that. There is only one woman with us, and she is a married mother of four. Not only do I think she wouldn't do it, I know her husband wouldn't agree to it. What I had in mind was something a bit more practical."

The captain looked at Bob for a moment, seemingly distracted by something. Then he went to a cabinet and took out a small plate, a box of salt, two glasses, and a bottle of tequila.

"I've always found this kind of talk to be pretty dry work."

He placed the plate, salt, glasses and unopened tequila between them. Then he poured some of the salt into the plate. He then gently shook the plate until the salt was leveled out. But he didn't pour the drinks.

"You mentioned a payment of something besides cash. What did you have in mind?"

"How much fuel would it take to get us to the other side?"

At this the Captains ears perked up. "It isn't just getting you over there. I have to also bring the 'Molly B.' back to the berth. Say 10 gallons round trip. Then there is the matter of avoiding complications. That has to be worth something as well."

"Captain, we will supply the gas for the trip, both ways. I also happen to know that in that cabinet is a .22 caliber rifle."

The captains eyes widened again, but he said nothing.

"I also know that you are running a little low on ammo. I'm willing to sweeten the offer with a brick of .22's."

"550 rounds of ammo does’ make it a sight sweeter. Tell me what do you think of this?"

With that the captain reached out and drew a curved line in the salt.

Bob smiled. He knew this little puzzle. He drew another curved line in the salt. Together, they made the symbol of a fish. The captain shook the plate once again, erasing the symbol. Then he poured a drink for each of them and put a pinch of salt on the web of his hand, between the thumb and forefinger.

"Call me Jim. Here’s to a safe crossing." He raised his glass.

Bob did as his host had done and answered, "And a safe return."

 

[Buick Electra]

Thank you for posting this DL as I missed out on it on the other forum. Excited to read this!

 

[day late]

The 'Molly B.' left the shoreline just after dark. She was an older vessel, but sturdy and well maintained. With a large flat deck area for cargo, and a cabin which could be used for either living or cargo, and was at times used for both. As well as the area below the main deck. The wheelhouse/bridge set on top of the cabin affording the captain a clear view of the river. Before they pulled out, the Captain told them;

"Make sure you all stay out of sight. There are patrol boats on the river, and they can stop and search anything they want, any time they want. Now if we run into one of them, I think I can talk our way out of inspection, but if I can't, you have to be ready. Bob, I'd like you topside with me."

That had happened ten minutes before Bob finally spoke.

"Jim, when you first looked at me, you seemed to know me, even though we've never met before this. What was that about?"

"You answer my question, and I'll answer yours. You said that you happened to know about my rifle. How did that happen?"

"I was told by someone."

"Same here. A kind of impressive guy, dressed all in white."

The two men looked at each other, and spoke at the same time.

"Michael."

"Have you considered what that might mean? I mean we have been getting messages from the Commander of The Lords' Host, His army. Kind of sounds like there might be some unpleasant work ahead for both of us." Bob observed.

"Or it could mean that we are in need of just that much help."

"True. I hadn't thought of that. Judging by what has happened so far, you could well be right. That brings to mind another question. Now I'm not one to tell a man how to run his business, but with patrol boats on the river, do you think it wise to be out here with the lights on the bow and stern lighted up like Christmas. I mean that has got to attract attention."

"Not as much as trying to run the river without them. They have all kinds of devices, and informers all up and down the river.

What I'm doing is acting like it is just another run. Avoid attention, by not trying to avoid it. I once read a science fiction book, where the main character gave some very good advice. He said, 'When you get caught doing something wrong, do not try to play innocent. Whoever caught you isn't going to believe you anyway. The best thing to do is to try and make the evidence point to a lesser crime'. These days, that's not so hard to do. Everyone is doing something wrong, even if it is trying to feed your family, or hiding ammunition for barter."

Bob smiled at that, until he heard Jim say;

"Uh oh. Patrol boat coming. Get down."

Bob ducked under the level of the window, and pulled out his pistol, just in case.

"Attention cargo vessel! Cut your engines and stand by for inspection." A voice boomed out of the night.

Jim pushed a button in front of him, and picked up a microphone.

"I'd love to do that, but I'm running short on time. I need to get this load to the other side pretty soon, or I'll be in trouble with the people who commissioned this run."

"I said, CUT YOUR ENGINES."

"Very well lieutenant, as long as you sign my inspection ticket. If I'm late, I want everyone to know it wasn't my fault."

At this, one of the men in the speed boat used for patrolling the river shown a light on the bow of Jim's' boat. He spoke quickly to his commander.

"Sir, it is the 'Molly B.'”

"Molly B.', Are you making another run for Director Claire?" The lieutenant asked in a much quieter voice.

"I think if he wanted you to know that, he would have told you, don't you? Look, I had problems getting loaded, and now I'm trying to make up for lost time. So, either sign my ticket, so I can turn it in at the end of the trip, or let me be on my way." Jim answered curtly.

Bob sat and waited for what seemed forever. He wondered if Jim might have over played his hand.

The men on the patrol boat had trouble deciding what to do. They knew that the Director sometimes commissioned late night trips like this. They knew he had used the 'Molly B.' before, it was on a list they had. They also knew the last man to insist on inspecting one of these late runs for the Director had gotten an even later at night visit from members of the Intelligence Division. Nobody had seen him after that.

"Molly B.' have a safe trip. Where are you headed?"

"You mean the Director didn't mention anything about that to you either?"

"I just wanted to warn you that there is a new patch of dead-fall in the water about a quarter mile down river. Be careful if you are headed that far."

"Thanks for the information. I will be careful if I go that far. Which bank?"

“It’s on the western side of the river. You should be able to see it.”

With that, the patrol boat turned, powered up its engine, cut around the back of the 'Molly B.' and sped off into the night, going upstream with its spotlight lighting the way.

Bob slowly stood, and remarked;

"Mark Twain had it right. There HAS been a decline in the art or lying. I've never heard someone skirt the truth as closely as you just did, without actually telling a lie."

"It isn't too hard with these guys. They are scared to death of the Director. Nobody dares to get on the wrong side of him. And as long as you don't do it too often, or make the story too long and complicated, they will buy it, and leave you alone."

They continued on in silence for awhile, before Jim spoke again.

"So, don't you want to know about hauling loads for the Director?"

"Not really. The way I see it, you could have turned us in when the patrol boat showed up, you didn't. Besides, would Michael be talking to someone on the other side of this thing?"

"No, I guess he wouldn't.” Jim took a breath and said, “Okay, I need to tell you. When we make landfall on the shore, it is going to be in a place that used to be a popular fishing spot. There is a dirt road that leads to a good road that’s about one hundred yards up. If you turn to the right, you are going to be headed right into a town. Maybe it’s a mile up the road. If you turn left, you're heading out into the country. I don't know which one you'll be taken down, but my guess would be left. What’s more even if you do know where you’re going, I don’t want to know. It’s safer for both of us that way. From there it is about fifteen miles to the next town. One more thing you need to know. Once the ramps go down, I need you guys to get off the 'Molly' as quick as you can. I know The Lord is watching out for us tonight, but I don't want to try His patience."

"That makes two of us. Thanks for the lift, Jim. If we never meet again on this side, I'll be looking for you on the other."

"Same here, I want to know how this all turns out for you."

With that said, they shook hands, and remained quiet for the rest of the trip.

 

[day late]

Chapter Seven

Director Claire was becoming more pleased by the day. Things were almost ready. He was actually almost in a good mood by the time Manuel made it to his office. He noticed that Manuel was really not one for success. His eyes glowed red, and there were scratches on his face and arms from some woman, he supposed. He was also unsteady on his feet, as if he were drunk. Well, if he couldn't control himself when he was in a position of power, it would make the next deception that much easier.

"Manuel, sit down. There is something we must talk about."

"Hey Mr. Director. What's wrong man? We ain't had any trouble in a while now."
"That's what I wanted to talk with you about. How clever you are to know what I wanted to say. You are absolutely right. There hasn't been the first bit of trouble from your sector. I wanted to thank you and your men for all you've done. I have a little surprise in mind for all of you. But I need your help to do it. You see I have been putting aside some very special people as a present for you all, if you know what I mean."

"What kind of people?"

"Oh they are young, good looking, and VERY talented, if you get what I'm saying. No, no, don't ask any more, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." He arched his eye brows suggestively. "But I need to know where these people need to dropped off for you and your men. To do that, I need to know where they are living. You understand?"

"Young and good looking you say? Yeah, I get you. I hope they are as talented as you say. These local women have no idea how to take care of a man like me."

"Oh trust me, Manuel, they will take care of you like you won't believe. As a matter of fact, you could say they are specialists. They’re from the city."

"Hey I've known some very special ladies in the city. This sounds good."

"Then you'll help me, by getting those addresses?"

Manuel burped before answering. "Sure Mr. Director, I'll have them for you by tomorrow. You see, I have to always know where my boys are, so I already have a list." He smiled at his foresight. He would show this man he could do things and be useful to him in the future.

"Excellent thinking on your part. I can see things happening for someone with a head on his shoulders like yours. Now remember, this is a surprise. You must not tell anyone about it."

"Okay. I'll bring it by in the morning."

"Thank you, Manuel. This makes things so much easier."

"No problem, Mr. Director."

With that, Manuel stood, somewhat unsteadily, turned, just managing to avoid falling over, and then left the room.

Once he was gone, Claire pushed the intercom button.

"I want the Director of Intelligence in here right now."

It wasn't long before he arrived.

"Manuel has a list of his men in his office. I don't want to take any chances. I want that list photographed, printed out, and on my desk by 4 A.M."

"Yes Sir."

Claire sat down, and thought about how close everything was to completion. Soon there would be no need for Manuel had his kind. It wouldn't be long now. First the American troops were almost done for, but before that, he would have the pleasure of reliving that night long ago that so pleased his master. The night of the long knives was about to happen again.


A few evenings after the crossing, all across the southern sector of the country, men were gathering in abandoned schools, concert halls, and other such places. They were lean, hardened, heavily armed, combat veterans. In one of the schools, Director Claire joined the men as they made ready for their nights work.

"Director Claire. There is no reason for you to be here. My men can take care of this. No need to risk your life." The Major in charge of the operation said.

"I know that Major. But there is one stop I want to join in on. Which of these groups is going to this address?" He handed a piece of paper to the Major.

Glancing at the address, he said, "I'll take you them."

They moved quickly through the crowd, and came upon a group of eight men. All of them dressed in black, with body armor, and fully automatic weapons.

"Men, There’s a slight change in plans. The Director is going with you, at least to one address. Whatever you do, protect him."

He singled out one man, and handed him the address. "Lieutenant, make this one your first stop."

"Yes Sir."

Within half an hour, all the men were loaded into various vehicles, and were on the way to their assignments. At first, the Lieutenant thought of trying to question Director Claire about the change in plans, then thought better of it, and kept the matter to himself. It wasn’t wise to ask too many questions. Soon the van they were riding in pulled up a half a block from Manuel's' address. Quietly and quickly they got out, and three of them moved to the backside of the house, to prevent anyone from escaping that way. The rest, with the Director, moved to the front of the house. One man took a position on each of the front corners of the house, while the Lieutenant, Claire, and two other men walked towards the front door.

Inside the house, Manuel was waiting for his 'reward', and hoped the wait wouldn't be much longer. The beer and marijuana were really starting to have an effect on him. It would be a shame he thought, to be unconscious even before things even got started. That's when he heard footsteps approaching the door.

"Come on in." He hollered, "The door is open."

It took him a moment to realize that instead of the woman he was expecting, Director Claire walked in the door.

"Hey, Mr. Director, This is a surprise. I didn't think you would personally deliver my reward."

"Oh Manuel, I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

He stepped to the side, and the two black suited men charged in, and took Manuel to the floor. Once there, they put handcuffs on him, checked him for weapons, rolled him onto his back, picked him up again, and threw him into the nearest chair, nearly breaking his arms in the process.

"What are you doing? I've done everything you wanted. You said you were happy with what I've done. What’s this all about?"

"Manuel, do you have any idea just how much of a fool you've been?" Claire was feeling confident, and was enjoying himself. He continued.

"I admit you've done a good job. It would have been impossible for the New Order to fight the military, the police, people like you, ex-military, and those damned Christians all at the same time. It took decades of careful planning and work to get to this point. Now we can't be stopped, so there is no harm in telling you.

You people are so self-centered. If it doesn’t concern you, it doesn’t matter. You are interested in yourself, and no one else. All we have to do is find the right bait to set for you. In your case it was easy.” Claire sneered. “You see, it started by using people like you. The greedy and stupid, to get many of the American people using drugs. If it wasn’t that, then we got them hooked on money, or sex, or something. The people who provided these things made money, and the people started getting complacent. They started to accept anything. We even had preachers convinced that they would be gone by now, and that’s what they taught. By now people are beginning to question what they believe.

Then we started dividing the people. White against black, black against Hispanic, rich against poor, it was so easy. Instead of taking personal responsibility for your lives, all of you blame someone else for your problems. You felt you had a right to whatever you wanted. And you would have it, no matter what.

But that wasn't nearly enough. We got the military involved in endless, senseless wars. That bled the economy badly. And it even divided the people further. Once the military was out of the country, we unleashed more attacks. On the east coast with hurricanes, the west coast with earthquakes, weather problems all over the place. Food got short, and people started fighting over that like dogs over a bone.”

Even Manuel shrank back as far as possible from the evil gleam in Claire’s eye. Quietly and with obvious joy, Claire continued.

“But then, Manuel, then we started on the end game. Through laws, we disarmed any who would stand against us. Without the military here, your president, who threw in with us long ago, and was told of the plan, brought in outsiders to keep the peace. They are men who don't care for your laws or your people. Yes, we let your kind get out of the cities. So you could do the dirty work for us out in the countryside as well. Every one of you that got killed made our job just that much easier. Not only did it keep us from having to kill you, but you killed our other enemies at the same time. And you fell for it beautifully, to satisfy your own lusts. Just like your kind always do. Now there is nobody left to resist us, and the final pieces are coming into place. Soon, our master will take his throne, and no one will dare to stand against him."

"What are you talking about? This sounds crazy."

"What a fool you are. You have crosses tattooed on your body, but you haven't been inside a church since you were nine. You've never read that cursed book the real Christians love so much. And you think you know it all."

"Now I know you're crazy. How could you know things like that?"

For just a moment, Claire allowed Manuel to see his true face. Manuel started to scream. Claire pulled out a knife, at which he was an expert at using, and moved towards him.

Manuel screamed until the early hours of the morning. But it didn't matter. There were similar screams coming from the entire southern region.




The group had once again stopped to rest, after leaving the 'Molly B.'. Kathy used the chance to quiz Bob.

"Alright Bob, I want to know how you have done all of this."

"I told you, Kathy. Bit by bit."

"No, no. I'm not talking about your stuff. I mean how have you learned to do everything you've been doing. It seems like no matter what happens, you have the answer. How is that possible?"

"Oh, that. Kathy, I didn't live a sheltered life. I've got scars I will carry to my grave. Mostly, it comes from a foolishly misspent youth. During that time, I learned a lot of things. Believe it or not, I learned a lot from the Boy Scouts. As a matter of fact, look at this."

Bob grabbed a well worn book from behind the front seat of the truck.

"This is one of my most important books. A Boy Scout Handbook from the mid sixties. It has so many things to teach a person. It has Morse Code, for example."

"Isn't that kind of old fashioned?"

"You tell me. What does three dots followed by three dashes, then with three more dots mean?"

"Everyone knows that. It's S.O.S."

"That's right. Now, what is the letter A?"

"Um, I don't know."

"You're not alone. Most people don't know Morse code. They don't even have a chart to tell them how to read it. That means I can send messages that most people will be totally clueless about. Another nice thing is that Morse can be sent using lights, noises, like the old telegraph, or even written out. But Morse code isn't all that is in here. Can you take balls of twine and make a rope?"

"No."

"Can you make a rope bridge that is safe?"

"No."

"What about an emergency shelter? Can you make one of those using only things like tree branches and a knife?"

"No."
“Can you make a safe raft for crossing rivers or lakes?”
“No.”

"See what I mean? The Boy Scouts were teaching young men how to survive in the wilderness, long before I was born. They had it down to a science. The only bad thing was when they were forced to become 'politically correct', and a lot of those things went away. That’s why this is an older manual.

But, of course, The Scouts weren’t my only teacher. I learned a lot from listening to veterans when I was a boy. Later I learned a lot while I was serving in the military. It's amazing what you can do with your own two hands when you have to. I never could stand it when someone would tell me either, 'I can't do that.' or 'You can't do that.' while I knew it could be done. Those smoke grenades for example. Maybe they weren't all slick and polished, or state of the art, but they worked. And in the end, that was what was important."

"What about food, Bob? I know you've got quite a bit in the 4X4, but that won't last forever."

"Got that covered as well. Take a look."

Bob again reached into the truck, this time into the center compartment between the seats, and pulled out what looked like a deck of playing cards, and handed them to her. Kathy looked at the box. The end of the box said;


EDIBLE WILD FOOD CARDS
U.S. GAMES SYSTEMS, INC.
Stamford, CT 06902 U.S.A.


"But whatever made you decide to collect all of this stuff, besides being nudged by The Lord?"

"You know the old saying. 'Plan for the worst and hope for the best.' I took that seriously. I once heard of people that died during Hurricane Katrina in their own attics. The reason why is they didn't plan ahead. When the water rose and forced them up, they didn't think about getting out. They didn't take an ax, or even a hammer to make a hole in the roof. Had they done so, many of them would have lived. When I would hear about such things, I'd think, 'What would I do?' and then do it."

"Okay, okay, Bob. I understand about getting ready to survive in bad times. I can even see how the Boy Scouts helped you to prepare for what is happening now. But, tell me, what about all the other things that have happened? Like when you rescued us from the gang members."

"That was a matter of Gods' grace, and my training as a soldier. They weren't professionals. If they had been, we wouldn't be talking now.

"But Bob, you won."

"No Kathy. We lost. Now it's true that I scared them off at first, but they came back later. Then they were scared off a second time, with heavy losses on both occasions. But make no mistake about it. We lost. If we had won, we would be sitting at home right now. As it is, before your family came to my house both of your cars were useless pieces of junk. Your front door was so close to falling in, it actually did when you guys came out. As of now, I'm certain that there is nothing of value left in your home. They've taken it all. And my home, it's nothing but a pile of scorched concrete, burned wood, and ashes. No Kathy, we didn't win. We lost, big time."

"But you jumped right into the middle of them and saved us."

Bob chuckled before answering.

"Hardly. If I had 'jumped into the middle of them' we would all be dead by now. What I did was to stand off a ways and use a rifle. That and the element of surprise are what made the difference.

You see, they had handguns and a single shotgun. Both are short range weapons. I was using a rifle that will reach out and touch someone at about one hundred yards. When I opened fire on them I was at least sixty yards away. It takes a professional soldier a lot of practice to be able to even hit a man sized target with a pistol at that range. And I was standing behind a tree, which made me even a smaller target. Those people weren't professionals. I put down three of them before any of them had the first idea where the fire was coming from. Even then, at that range, a handgun is a poor choice of weapons. For the average person, a target that small, at that range is impossibility with a pistol. Oh yes, they sprayed the area with bullets, but none of them came close to me. In the mean time, with the rifle I was downing man after man.

Once they realized that they were on the losing end of the deal, they scattered. Then I was able to get you out of there. But when they came back, it was in force. True, the booby traps I had waiting for them made them leave a second time. Which in turn, gave us the chance to get out. But all in all, we lost. They hold our property, and we are running for our lives. The only victory we can claim is that God in His mercy allowed us to all get away. That is all. I guess it comes down to what my favorite science fiction writer once said in a book. 'A wise man, in the course of a long life, is prepared to abandon his luggage, several times'."

"Meaning, we can't go back?"

"Meaning, we can't go back."

 

[day late]

It had been four days since the crossing of the Mississippi. Things had become just as they had been before. Traveling at night, avoiding cities, towns, and people in general. Now they were in the Rocky mountains. They had stopped for the day and were waiting for the important announcement from the President that had been spoken of earlier. The static cleared as the station powered up for the broadcast.

"My, fellow Americans. It is with a heavy heart that I come to you tonight. As we are all aware, these past months have been disastrous for our nation. Both our west coast and the Gulf States have been changed forever by natural occurrences that could not be foreseen, either in scale or magnitude. Our infrastructure has been severely undermined.

We are all aware of the sacrifices that have been forced on us all. Without a doubt these events have cost many lives since they happened, and we are just now starting to make headway in our efforts at recovery. Much of that headway is due to the efforts of the foreign troops that have agreed to come here and help us in our time of need."

"With help like that who needs enemies." Bob said.

"I want to express the thanks of our people to these selfless men and women that have left their homes to come here for us. As we have helped them in years gone by."

"Okay, when does the hammer fall?" Tim asked.

The President paused before continuing.

"Just as we have had to do without here in America, our brave men and women in the service have had to sacrifice as well. They have had to bare the burden of shortages of all kinds. Food, ammunition, weapons, fuel, and more of the necessities of waging a successful campaign are needed. They are all in short supply."

"I think it is falling now." Kathy answered her husband.

"Our brave young men and women have borne these sacrifices with honor and dignity. Continuing to carry on with their noble mission of bringing peace and democracy to the troubled lands of the Middle East."

Again the President paused.

"I must now inform you that our enemies have chosen this time when they believe we are weakened, and disheartened to launch major attacks against every American outpost in the region. They are attacking in untold numbers. They have received more fighters from nations that, before this, had remained out of the fighting."

"Oh no. Joe!" Was all Alex said, thinking of his high school friend who was currently serving in Iraq.

"Our forces are making valiant efforts to repel these attacks, but are hampered by the shortages. We expect casualties to be high on both sides in these engagements."

There was another pause.

"I have asked for our allies in the region to send to our fighting men and women everything they can to help in repelling these attacks."

The radio faded.

"Allies!!!" Bob shouted, "What allies? What is he talking about? None of the Arab states are going to help us. Neither are any of the former Soviet states. Japan? They are watching out for China. South Korea? They have their hands full with the North. Israel? They get a lot of their weapons from us, what can they do? Somebody please tell me I didn't hear what I just heard."

Nobody said a word. They were all as unbelieving as Bob, except for Alex, who had dark thoughts of his own.

Once again, the static cleared.

"I am also asking that all veterans, who have served our nation in the past, step forward and serve yet again. I know this is a great sacrifice, but these are desperate times unlike any we have faced before in the history of this great nation. Even if you are older, or disabled, we can use you to do things that will free up combat ready personnel for duty overseas. I have ordered the Postmaster General to make available space in every Post Office for you to come in and register for duty."

Disgustedly, Bob turned off the radio.

"That does it. There is no further help for the U.S. We are doomed to the ash heap of history."

"Come on, Bob. I can't believe that. We'll recover somehow." Kathy said.

"Recover? How? Look at the facts. The President is ruling by decree. He has no plans to allow Congress to resume its' duties. So, he can do what he wants, when he wants, without restraint. Last time I checked, they called someone like that a dictator. Now he wants the only people who might be able to form a core of resistance to step up and be numbered. That way they already know where to find you.

There are foreign troops patrolling our streets, with the local law enforcement not only under Presidential direction, but also under orders to obey the foreign commanders and the President. What politician have you ever heard of that willingly gave up that kind of power?

Our food production has been cut by at least fifty per cent, and people are starving. The only ones with any kind of firearms are the ones that refused to surrender them, and we are being hunted. What is left of our military is being over-run in foreign countries, without any hope of resupply or re-enforcements. Now, they want anyone else who may have the slightest knowledge of how to resist this New Order, to walk into the Post Office and agree to serve in whatever capacity they choose. The sad part is that many people will do it, out of a sense of duty. Once they are gone, almost all resistance ends. There won't be anyone left to fight, or teach others how to fight. How do we recover from that?"

"I think you underestimate what God can do. He said that if we pray, He will hear us."

"Almost right. What He said was; 'If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.' 2Ch 7:14.
Tell me, do you see the people of this nation turning from their ways? Or are they just trying to hold on to what they had, and find an excuse to keep on doing what they have been doing all along? Do you see much humility? I don't.

Let me tell you something else. Last night the Arch Angel, Michael, visited me in a dream. I saw some people who turned themselves in to the authorities. They thought that they were doing the right thing. They thought they would be safe. The husband watched his wife get raped to death. Then they shot him, in the head. And it was all done in front of the children. Is that the kind of thing you want?"

"Bob, this HAS to end. We have children to raise. We can't just keep wandering through the wilderness."

Bob shook his head.

"You still haven't accepted it, have you? Kathy, this IS the beginning of the Gods judgment on America. From here on out, things only get worse, and it won't stop, until The Lord returns.

Think about it, both of you. As long as America stood with Israel, nobody could wipe it out. None of the prophecies in The Bible concerning Israel and the end times could happen. We would stand with them. What choice did Satan have but to destroy this country? Now, America is out of the equation. What is left of our ground troops will either be dead, or captured very soon. Most of the air bases we have here have either been too badly damaged to be of use, or they have been turned over to the foreign forces.

Our Navy is about the only asset we have left, and they won't last long without fuel. We can't pay for fuel, even if someone was willing to sell it to us. On top of that, it has been prophesied that we will go to war with China over Taiwan. What do you think China will do about that? I'll tell you what. They will nuke the Navy while it is still at sea, and out of range of their coasts. After that, Russia will hit us with everything they've got, and we are done for.

Israel will have to stand alone. Only God can help them now, just as it was foretold.

All of that means, there will be no settling down for us. Oh yes, we will be able to stop moving for brief periods of time, but we’ll probably never put down roots. We do that, and we will die."

 

[day late]

Chapter Eight


When the group set out once again, Tim was riding shotgun with Bob, and had his own set of questions.

"Bob, do you mind if I ask you about some things?"

"Ask away."

"I heard some of the things you said to Kathy. They make me wonder. I mean, I know that uniforms are easy to come by, so anyone can look like a 'professional' as you've put it. But how do you tell the difference?"

"That is easier to say than it is to understand. It isn't any one thing, it is a combination of things. Mostly it’s attitude and actions. You are right about one thing. A uniform does not make a soldier. But you can tell a soldier from a civilian. For example, take that road block. A professional would have had their car completely block the road. That would make you have to drive around their vehicle. Those guys just had it off to the side. I guess to make it easier to handle traffic, or maybe to make a quick turnaround if someone ran the roadblock. But a real professional will have the vehicle blocking the road and have people BEHIND the car or whatever they are using to block the road. Only one man, or at most two, will come out to check the oncoming vehicle. The rest will stay behind cover. At that roadblock all three of them came around to the side you were on. That’s not a good thing to do. It exposes too many people to a possible hostile fire situation. So, they weren’t likely to know what to do when things went wrong. They counted on their show of force. They never expected to be hit from another direction.

The two things that you need to look for are actions. First, a professional will always have someone watching his back. Take those gang bangers that attacked your house on that first day. Obviously they didn't have any kind of attack plan, besides overwhelming you and killing any who resisted. If they had been real soldiers, they would have either waited you out, or offered you a chance to surrender and then taken what they wanted. They didn't expect to be hit from behind, themselves.

Secondly, a professional is very observant. He tries to see everything that is going on around him at all times."

"Sounds like being paranoid or something."

"No. It’s not that at all. It's not that he expects to be attacked. He simply wants to know what is going on. He’s alert, but without fear."

"Alert, but without fear." Tim repeated. "I take it that is what you've been doing all these years."

"Something like that. I watched the news, checked outside sources on the Internet, and began to put things aside as best as I could. As scripture says,

1Ti 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
I was doing what I could for my family, like anyone would. The difference was that I believed these days were almost here, and that meant that I took it a little further than most people did.”



Director of the South Eastern Region Claire and the other regional directors were gathered in an underground room, buried deep under the White House. As they waited, they speculated as to why they had been summoned here. It wasn't long before their speculation was answered. The President entered the room, and without fanfare, went to the podium at one end of the room.

"Gentlemen, I want to thank you all for getting here on such short notice. As you know, the plan is almost complete. Soon this nation will no longer pose a threat to our master. The armed forces of America are on the verge of being eliminated. Soon the hated land of Israel will be without aid from any quarter. This is certain to please our master, and I intend to make sure he knows that it would not have been possible without your assistance.

I'm expecting a visit from his messenger at any moment, and expect to receive the final orders from him as to how to bring this land under complete subjugation to his will. Within a very short time, all of those who have been captured, especially the Christians, will be at your disposal, for whatever you desire to do with them."

A murmur of approval went around the room. This is what they had been promised. This is what they had long waited for. They could almost taste the human flesh, and smell the blood. It was hard to restrain their other evil lusts. Some, like Claire, had already begun to indulge their wanton, inhuman desires on their captives. The freedom to indulge their every whim was almost overpowering.

Quietly a side door opened and a small servile man entered.

"Mr. President?" He said in nearly a whisper.

"What is it?"

"Sir, the messenger of the master is here to see you."

"Thank you, I'll be right there." He turned back to his audience. "As you've heard, our final instructions have arrived. I have taken the liberty of arranging some 'entertainment' for you. I believe ten years of age is satisfactory." He smiled at the thought. "Gentlemen, I'll look forward to seeing you soon."

He then turned and quickly left the room.

As one the directors left the room. Each filled with thoughts of what was to come in just moments.


The President entered his private apartment in the underground facility. The thing waiting for him couldn't be considered human except for the fact he had the usual number of arms, legs, and a head. After that all similarity ended. He looked at the President with red glowing eyes, and a smile that was anything but comforting.

"Good to see you. The master is pleased with your work so far, but there is still one problem."

"Thank you, and thank him for me. I am happy to serve. What problem could there be?"

"Your Navy. It is still too powerful."

"What can I do? I've reduced it as much as I can without raising suspicion."

"The master understands. Even as we speak, there is a message being delivered at the White House, telling you that China is about to go to war with Taiwan. Your country has a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan in the case of an attack from China. You will send most of your carrier forces to defend them. However, you must not allow them to make a first strike. Once the Chinese have taken out the carriers with their nuclear weapons, you will allow them to retake the renegade province. Then there will no longer be any chance of anyone opposing the masters will."

"I understand, and will obey."



It was a small town, tucked away in the Rocky Mountains. At best, the population couldn't have been more than two hundred and fifty to three hundred people. Nestled in a valley, it looked peaceful. Both Bob and Tim, who were looking down on it from a nearby ridge, could tell that something was very wrong. There were no lights on in the storefronts, no music playing, there wasn't even a child riding his bike in the streets. There were doors standing open here and there, and the street was littered with windblown debris.

"What could be going on down there?" Bob asked himself more than Tim, who was lying next to him.

"Maybe some sort of curfew?"

"I don't think so. They wouldn't just leave their doors open. Right now, I'm hoping it isn't some kind of quarantine."

"I guess it could be, but what are we going to do? You know we need supplies."

"I've got an idea. But right now, lets' get back to the others."

Keeping low enough below the ridge line that they couldn't be seen from the town, they both walked back to the vehicles. Once there, they described the scene just over the hill.

"My thought is that Alex and I should go in first. Look around, and see what we can see."

"Shouldn't I go with you? After all, Alex isn't much older than Tom or Sam." Tim asked.

"Tim, I don't want to break up a family. If something should happen, Kathy could lose her husband, and the father of your children. If Alex and I go, well, it won't be as bad on them."

"Gee, thanks Dad."

"Its’ true son, and you know it."
"Yeah I do, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"If it makes you feel any better, I like it even less than you do. I'd like to have someone to carry on the family name. But I need to have back up, just in case."

After that, Bob pulled out two small walkie-talkies. He showed Tim how to use one, and then put the other in his pocket.

"Tim, I want you to go back up to where we were. Keep this thing on, but don't use it unless you have to do so. Alex and I are going to need to keep it quiet, until we figure out what is going on. If you don't hear from us within an hour, you must assume the worst, and take the actions you see as fit to protect your family. Understand?"

Tim simply nodded.

"Bob, you two be careful down there." Kathy said.

"Don't worry I'm looking after my two favorite skins."

As Alex and Bob got themselves ready to walk down the slope towards the town, Alex spoke.

"Dad, I have to tell you, I'm kind of scared."

"So am I."

"You are?"

"Son anyone in this situation, and his right mind, would be at least a little scared. Lets' face it, walking into the center of a bulls-eye is not something anyone wants to do. Anyone who says he isn't scared doing something like this is either a fool or a liar."

"What are you scared about? I mean God is on your side."

"Son, I've read The Bible, cover to cover, more than once. I've never seen one verse or passage that says I'll still be standing when the final trump sounds. Even if I did, that still doesn't mean I can't be hurt. So yeah, I'm a bit scared."

"You hide it real good."

"It's like you said. God is on my side. And like scripture says, The Lord is my strength. That is where my courage comes from to do something as risky as this." Bob paused a moment. "It's time you learned something about military tactics."

"I'm all ears."

"This is called a 'bounding over-watch'."

"How do we do that?"

"To start with, I'm going to move down the right side of this road. You take the left. Now, I'll move out first, and get down there to that depression by that bush. Do you see it?"

"Yeah. What do I do?"

"You cover me until I get there. Once I do, I'll cover you as you make your way to that boulder. Don’t run, but don’t drag your feet either. Its’ just the most alert walk you’ve ever taken in your life."

"That will put me in front of you."

"That's right. The idea is we kind of leap frog our way down there. You cover me, then, I cover you, all the way to the town. Take advantage of whatever cover you can find on the way. When we get there, you take one side of the street, and I'll take the other."

"Not to interrupt, but what am I doing while you guys are 'leap-frogging?" Tim asked.

"From up here you have a better view of the edge of town. So, you watch it and cover both of us. If you see anything that looks wrong, fire a shot to warn us. Don't worry about hitting anything. Just keep them ducking so they can't shoot us. If we are close enough, we'll keep moving forward into town. If not, we'll beat it back here as fast as we can. Everyone set? Okay. Lets' do it."

 

[day late]

As it turned out, there was almost no cover from halfway between the ridge line, and the town. Bob decided that he and Alex would have to brazen it out. They walked slowly down the slope to the town. One of them on each side of the road. Once on the outskirts, they separated. Bob went down one side of the main street, while Alex took the other.

"Remember," Bob had told his son when they started down the hill, "Check every window, and every door, by poking your head around the edge. Get a quick glance, and pull back. DON'T stand there and look. Just in and out. If you see anyone, call me. If there are bodies, do not go near them. We don't know what has happened here, so we don't want to take any unnecessary chances."

Now they were both doing the same thing. A quick peek, and pull back. When nothing was seen, they would move carefully past the window or door, and on to the next one. They worked their way down the street, until about half way down the street. When Alex reached the general store, he peeked in the window, and pulled back, then he noticed a piece of paper posted in the window. After reading it, he called his father over to him.

"What is it?" Bob asked as he jogged up to him.

"Take a look at this."

"I'm sorry, Son I left my reading glasses back at the truck. What does it say?"

"It says that this town is to be evacuated by the government."

"Evacuated? Why?"

"It says that the government can't spare troops to protect a small town like this, ‘from roving bands of criminals’. So, they are all being taken to another place where they will be put in a 'protective facility' along with people from other small towns. That way they can be more easily protected."

"I wonder if they are still alive."

"Dad? Don't you think that calling Tim would be a good idea? It's been about forty minutes already."

"Right you are." Bob pulled the walkie-talkie from his pocket. "Tim, it seems to be alright down here. Bring the vehicles and park them out of sight, wherever you can."

"We’re on our way."

When the vehicles arrived, Bob was only a little surprised to see Tom driving the small car owned by Alex. They were soon out of sight, in alleys between the mostly wooden and adobe buildings, and everyone started to get out.

"Tim, I'd like you to come with me. Everyone else stay near the cars until we make sure it's completely safe."

The younger children were disappointed at losing the chance of exploring this ghost town, but Kathy made sure that they stayed close to her. Alex walked back to his car with Tom and as young men do, started proudly talking about it.

The older men set out walking down the street, using the wall of whatever building they were next to as cover. It wasn’t long before Tim and Bob had covered most of the town. For the most part, private homes seemed to be a little further out from the main part of the town. Soon, however, they found a small adobe building with windows that had been locked shut with stout wooden shutters. It also had a thick wooden door and a flat roof. Strangely enough there were decaying bodies of several dogs lying scattered over a large area outside.

They tried the door. There was no door knob, only a draw rope high up on it. They found that the rope refused to raise the bar on the inside. There was a sliding panel to allow whoever was inside to open it and see who was outside, before opening the door. But it too was securely fastened.

"What do you think?" Tim asked.

"Mighty curious. Do you think you can boost me up on the roof? A lot of these places had a trap door up there, and it might be open."

"Lets' find out."

Together they pulled a nearby box up next to the wall, climbed up on it, and Tim cupped his hands for Bob to step into. They he hoisted Bob high enough to grab the edge of the wall, and he pulled himself up and over, onto the roof.

Bob quickly surveyed the scene around the house. Just as out in front, there were more dead dogs lying on the three other sides of the house. At a guess, he placed the number at around twenty to twenty-five of the animals. Then he found what he had hoped for. The trap door was located to one side of the roof, and it too had a draw rope. Unlike the door below, this one worked easily. Before dropping down into the dark interior, he called to Tim.

"I found it. But stay on your toes. There's a lot more dead dogs out there, and I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

"Will do."

Bob opened the door, and the foul odor of death came up to meet him. He waited briefly to let the worst of the odor escape. Then, carefully he felt around with his foot. Finding a ladder with it, and he climbed down. Once inside, he paused for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He located the front door, and moved to open it. The cross bar was slightly warped, but with a little effort, he lifted it, and opened the door. Once the door opened, the light that came in was enough to see the entire room. He saw two more dogs on the floor, and the body of a man sitting in a chair. Leaning against the table next to him was a shotgun, and on it, a pistol. Three spent shotgun shell casings were on the floor. One of the man’s legs was wrapped in a bandage that was dark brown with dried blood. Cradled in the man’s hands was a clear glass jar, tightly sealed, with a piece of paper inside. Bob was so absorbed by the scene, that he jumped when Tim's' feet scuffed the floor as he came in.

"What happened here?"

"Let’s see if he can tell us."

Gently, Bob pulled the jar from the dead man’s hands, opened it, removed the paper, and started to read aloud.

"I, Todd Johnson, do declare this to be my last will and testament. I leave all my property to whoever finds them. I pray that it is a Christian. Especially my rifle and shotgun. They are good weapons, and have killed most of the dogs that have killed me.

Beware of the dogs. I hid when the town was evacuated. The people had to leave the dogs behind. The government wouldn’t allow them to take them. They have gone wild, and are hunting in packs like wolves. You will find ammunition for these weapons and my pistol in the cabinet next to the stove.

I had to get water from the well, that’s when they came back for me. I had already killed a bunch of them, and thought they had gone. Two got inside with me. I did them in, but not before they got to me. I'm losing lots of blood, and don't know how long I will last. So I write this in hopes that it will help whoever finds me.

Todd Johnson"

Bob folded the paper, and put it in his pocket. Then he sniffed, wiped a tear from his eye, and looked at Tim. Only to find him doing the same.

"We'd better get back."

Tim was about to agree, when they heard the child scream. They nearly ran over each other trying to get out of the door.

As they ran down the street, they heard the boom of a shotgun, followed by two more shots. Reaching the intersection they had turned down to get to Todd's' home, they skidded to a stop and looked around the corner. The smaller children were nowhere to be seen. Alex was standing on the hood of the SUV with a pistol in hand, trying to get a bead on a dog moving around him on the ground. Kathy was standing, with her back to the door of the general store, shotgun in hand, with one dog down in the street in front of her, and two more moving back and forth waiting for the right moment to attack.

Tim pulled up the rifle in his hands, sighted and fired. One of the animals in front of Kathy flew sideways as the bullet stuck home. The second dog stopped, and looked in the direction of Tim's' shot. He barred his teeth and made a fearsome growl. Kathy saw her chance and took it. The shotgun boomed again. The second dog went down.

"Kathy, are all of you alright?" Tim shouted.

"Yes. The kids are in the store. Alex? How are you doing?"

"Okay, I think. The one over here took off when the shooting started up again. I don't see him, and don't know where he went."

"Stay where you are and let us check it out before you come down." Bob called to him.

"I ain't going no place."

First, Bob laid down, at a distance, and checked under the 4X4. On Bobs' signal, Tim took one side of the alley, while Bob took the other.

“Watch our rear, Alex.” Bob said as he and Tim entered the alley. They moved slowly ahead, checking every place the animal could hide. They looked behind every box, into every doorway, until they reached the end of the alley. Looking out onto the hillside beyond, there was no further sign on him.

"Let’s get to the store. Come on down Alex. It's clear."

After they had gathered in the store, Bob found out why the dogs had gotten so close. At first, they seemed like the kind of pets that they were used to seeing around. It wasn't until one of the children got a little too close to one, that the mistake was realized. Kathy was the only one with either shotgun or rifle, and had to wait until the running child was out of the line of fire, before she could shoot the dog. The first shot only wounded it, so she made sure the second finished him.

Most of them had already been in the store when everything started, and Alex had been checking windows up and down the street when Kathy shot the first time. He had seen the two other dogs coming at her, and picked up a pistol from the front seat of the SUV when he heard another dog growling behind him. He didn't know how it happened, but with one leap, he found himself on the hood. Turning, the dog was right behind him. In panic, instead of shooting, he had kicked the dog in the head, and sent it crashing back to the ground. By the time he remembered the handgun, the dog had gotten up next to the 4X4 and he couldn't get a shot.

"From now on, nobody old enough to carry a weapon goes anywhere without one. That INCLUDES going to the bathroom." Bob told them. "We got lucky today. Nobody got hurt. Next time we might not be so fortunate."

"What about bathing?" asked Kathy.

"We post guards. Obviously, Tim will guard you and otherwise we'll work it out as we go along."

"Bob, speaking of that sort of thing, do you think we can stay here a day or two? No offense to anyone, but some of us could, I know, stand to have some clean clothes."

Bob sniffed and then smiled, "I noticed the same thing. I just didn't want to mention it. Alright, as long as we can, we'll stay here. Tim, Alex, and I will look around and find the most defensible place, and we'll set up shop there. There’s no sense in letting the dogs have another go at us. That reminds me. From now on, nobody travels alone. Everyone has someone to watch their back while we do what needs to be done. Oh and one more thing. Kathy you are the one with the most medical training. I noticed that this place had a doctor. Would you go to his office and see if there is anything that we might need that we can take with us. Any drugs, bandages, and that sort of thing."

Kathy agreed. She was in fact a dentist. How she managed to carry on a practice, and still manage to care for four children and her husband was a mystery to Bob, but her children were all well mannered and polite. Their clothes always clean, and everyone well fed. Bob admired her for that. And in all medical matters he deferred to her judgment. After all it was good that a man knew his limitations.

"Alright, the visit to the doctors’ office can wait for tomorrow. Right now, I want Tom and Sam to stand guard while you and the other children look through this place for anything we might need." He sniffed again, smiled and said, "Especially soap. Let’s get to it. I'd like to be ready in time for tonight's broadcast."





The President sat at his desk looking over the notes for his nightly radio broadcast. Since radio required less power than television, and most of the places that still had power on a regular basis, didn't have television stations, radio was seen as the best way to accomplish his plans.

"Mr. President, you’re on, in 4, 3, 2, 1." the director pointed at the President to let him know he was on live.

"My fellow Americans, Once again I come before you with troubling news. Today I have been given undeniable proof, from the Taiwanese ambassador, that The Peoples Republic of China has begun preparations for a full scale invasion of the island nation of Taiwan.

I have advised the Mainland Chinese that America finds these actions to be unacceptable. We have mutual defense treaties with the Taiwanese government, and will honor them. Therefore I have ordered our naval forces to send a four carrier task force to the region.

It is hoped that the government of the Peoples Republic of China will see that even in our current condition, America will not abandon her partners in democracy. We hope that they will give up on these plans of conquest, and return to the peaceful path of negotiation.

In the event that they refuse to do so, they must be made aware that this nation will not stand aside while they conquer their neighbors, in total disregard for the wishes for freedom loving peoples everywhere, and international law.

Therefore, I have authorized the overall task force commander to take whatever actions he deems necessary in order to protect the island nation of Taiwan.

I ask all Americans, everywhere to join me this night in prayer for the fate of not only the Taiwanese people but all those who love freedom. Thank you, and good night."

Once back in his private quarters, the President smiled to himself. He knew that the Chinese submarine, with the nuclear weapons to destroy the task force, was already on station. It was just waiting for the order to fire.

 

[day late]

Chapter Nine


As night fell after the first full day in this new town, the group gathered in the general store to prepare a meal. Tim asked Bob about something that he had been wondering about.

"Tell me something, Bob. When the government made it illegal to own guns, I know they sent out people to collect the ones that weren't turned in. And don't get me wrong, I glad you didn't, but how did you keep them, without anyone knowing about it?"

"In a word, it was misdirection. Like the magician that gets you to watch the right hand, while he's pulling the trick with his left. In this case, I did turn in my weapons. Well, at least the ones they knew about."

"They must have known about all of them, didn't they? I mean they were registered and everything."

"That’s not exactly true. You see it was a common misconception that all firearms had to be registered. That was what the government wanted everyone to believe, so they fostered that idea. They never actually came out and said you have to do it, they just make you think it’s’ required. Truth was that in most of the country private sales of weapons weren't required to be registered. So I didn't register mine. The only weapons that went on the roles were those bought from dealers. Knowing that the time was coming when they would come after the weapons, I bought a few that were registered. When the time came, I dutifully went down to the police station and turned them over."

"Didn't they check you out to make sure you didn't have any more?"

"Yes, they did. But by the time they got to me, there weren't any in the house. I had hidden them nearby."

"Let me guess. You buried them?"

"Some of them, but not all.”
"Weren't you afraid they'd find them?"

"Not really. Where they were hidden wasn't on my property, so they could have belonged to anyone. And as they used to teach us in the infantry 'know thy enemy'. If you know what he is likely to do, you can take counter measures. The weapons I buried, I put down far enough that a metal detector wouldn't find them. The others were hidden in places where there was too much metal for there to be any hope of them being noticed."

"Where was that?"

"A junkyard."

Kathy looked at Bob. "You know Bob. When we first met, I just thought you were a 'good old boy' redneck."

"I am. I like hunting, fishing, camping, beat-up old pickup trucks and all the rest of it. Even hound dogs named 'Blue'."

"Bob, you are much more than that. What is your I.Q.?"

"I honestly don't know. I've never taken an I.Q. test."

"I know they gave you one when you joined the Army. Everyone takes it."

"So, is that what that was?"

"Bob, you're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"You are playing dumb. I know you are more intelligent than that. What was your score?"

"Oh yes, I remember that test. Highest possible score was one hundred forty. Minimum to be allowed into the service was eighty. To be an officer was at least one hundred fifteen."

"And your score was?"

"Well I wasn't an officer, just a grunt."

"BOB! Stop, being so evasive."

A brief smile crossed his face. Bob looked down and half mumbled. "One hundred twenty-seven."

"One hundred twenty-seven! Bob, you could have been an officer."

"I know."

"But if you were an officer, you could have retired more than a decade ago. You wouldn't have had to put on this 'dumb redneck' routine either."

Bob sighed. "Kathy, I don't know if I should be mad or happy. Mad, that even you have fallen for the deception they have put out. Or happy, that my tracks have been hidden so well."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kathy, do you have any idea what a redneck really is? A redneck is someone that is close to the earth. Not in a tree-hugging sort of way, but someone who respects the earth, and The God who made it. They don't just go out and kill anything that has fur and moves. Yes, they do kill animals, but only to eat, or in self defense.” Bob noticed Kathy’s eyes widen slightly at this remark, but he continued without a break. “They don't just go out and slash and burn the land. The land and the animals are what keep them alive, and they know it.

The idea that we are people that are some kind of inbred, racist morons whose' greatest hope is to graduate the fifth grade is absolutely wrong. You've known me for over ten years. Have you ever heard me say anything that could be called racist?"

"Well, no."

"Do you think I've got an education that is beyond the fifth grade?"

"Obviously you do. Bob, what is your point?"

"Simply this. By your own admission, I'm not what you would call a redneck, and by mine, I am a redneck. Who do you think is right?"

"Bob, that's not fair. "

"It's perfectly fair. I'm challenging your prejudices. I'm not saying that there are no redneck racists, there are. But I've met racists in everything from uniforms to three piece suits. Hollywood had promoted the idea that they are all out there in the countryside, barefoot and drunk. And you bought into it."

Bob shook his head. "I've used that prejudice to conceal what I am really all about and what I will do. Most people think that rednecks would be the first to charge heavily armed men in full body armor with both air and artillery support with nothing more than shotguns and pickup trucks, and expect to win. Nobody expected that people like us would have the brains to evade the forces that have been sent against us.

I told you. Misdirection is a very powerful friend. You thought one thing, but when you learn the truth, it turns out to be something very different. You think rednecks were basically stupid and lazy. Yet a redneck pulled your family out of your house. A redneck kept you alive when the gang bangers came back. A redneck has been feeding your family since we left home. Does that sound like an inbred moron to you?"

Kathy bowed her head, and shook it.

"Do you begin to see it? I've used peoples' preconceptions to cover my actions. I'm bright enough to do just about anything I want. I choose to live simply. If you mistake that for something else that is your problem, not mine."

"Bob." Tim spoke softly. "You've always said you knew this time was coming. How did you?"

"When I was a boy, my parents sent me to a school that was run by our church. One day in the fall of 1966, our pastor was teaching the Bible study. We were in the book of Revelation. Someone asked if he thought he would see the end times. He said no, because not all of the prophecies had been fulfilled yet. Such as Israel regaining their land. As you know, Israel regained their land in the six day war in June of '67. That made an impression on me. From that day to this, I've studied Biblical prophecy. That's how I know."

"I never knew you went to a church school." Kathy said.

Bob smiled. "Misdirection is a powerful friend, and 'playing dumb' can be a great help at times. You never asked anything about my education, so why should I volunteer it? You just accepted me as a well educated redneck. That was fine by me. Now you know why. People underestimate you. That means they never see the surprise coming."

What was planned for just a couple of days turned into five of them. On the first day, another adobe house was found, just down the road from Todd's home. Like Todd's home it had stout walls, and a flat roof. Unlike Todd's place, it had locking doors, and windows. More importantly it had a generator, which was more than able to handle the load of running the house. It took two days for Kathy and Tim to get the clothing for their family cleaned. The load was made somewhat easier by the fact that Tom and Sam had found clothing that fitted them in the general store. Bob and Alex had similar luck with their clothing, limited only by Bobs' insistence that his pants had to be jeans.

"They last longer." Was all he had to say on the matter.

Kathy had asked, "Don't you think we should bury Todd?"

"I'd like to, but I'm afraid that the freshly turned earth would give us away." Bob told her.

The argument went back and forth for some time. In the end it was decided that leaving Todd where he was, was the best idea, and certainly the safest for them all. However, a ceremony was held to honor his memory.

Dogs proved to continue to be a problem for the first two days, but after five more of them had been killed, they no longer came close to the group. They knew the dogs were still around because they would still see one of them from time to time. The rule of all adults, and everyone now thought of Tom and Sam as such, going armed, and guards at all times, was never questioned.

True to his word, the cabinet next to the stove in Todd's home was well stocked with rifle, shotgun, and pistol ammunition. The weapons made a welcome addition to the collection that they already had.

The general store offered even more than some food items, it also had something Bob had overlooked in his preps. Cards for three different types of games, plus a couple of board games were added to their supplies. Diversions the games offered turned out to be just as necessary as ammunition, in order to keep everyone from becoming too uptight. Two other bonuses the store had were spices for the food, and coffee. After all the time they had spent on the road, coffee had become nonexistent. The adults soon made something of a ceremony of having it with breakfast every morning.

All of them were surprised at two things. First, they were amazed at the number of things they no longer had to entertain them. Secondly, how little they missed them. Once, the children were easily bored with whatever electronic gadget that they were given for birthdays, holidays, or any other reason. Now that such things were no longer available, they found new excitement in checkers, chess, backgammon, and card games, which had no set number of outcomes as the electronic games did, since the outcome was determined by whatever a live opponent did.

Instead of television, they now listened to the few programs they could get on the radio during the evenings. The programs they could hear increased in number when a short wave radio was discovered. Now they could listen to broadcasts from around the world. The knowledge base of the youngest children grew by leaps and bounds.

They also discovered that sitting around playing board games and talking filled them with a sense of togetherness they had never known before. Some of those discussions brought new understanding to Kathy, Tim, and Alex.

"Tell me Bob, just how long have you been getting messages from angels? I mean you lived across the street from us for ten years before all of this got started. Why didn't you say anything?" Kathy asked one evening.

"Michael showed up for the first time, shortly after Nancy died, and again, just before we had to leave. But I've been getting, well, I call them 'nudges' for years. You know, that small still voice that you aren't quite really sure you heard at all, but whatever you heard, was the right thing to do. I can't explain it better than that I'm afraid, but those 'nudges' were never wrong. They did, however cause more than one argument between Nancy and myself. Like that generator. It sat in the box in my garage for over five years, collecting dust. I don't know how many times Nancy told me to return it to the store, and get the money back in that first year. After it became obvious that it was old enough that the store wouldn't take it back, she urged me to get rid of it in a garage sale. I refused. I told her that if and when the day came we were without power, she'd be glad we had it. You remember what happened four years ago."

Kathy and Tim remembered. A major storm had gone through the area. They were without power for over a week. They were grateful that Bob and Nancy had the generator. It had saved a lot of the food that would have spoiled in their freezer.

"Anyway, after that storm, whenever bad weather was coming our way again, Nancy had only one question, 'Is the generator working?' That generator was a 'nudge', just like the long term storage food we've been eating. Same is true for my weapons and ammo. I had a shotgun, two rifles, and two handguns. Nancy thought I was a little 'excessive' in my collection. But knowing I was a veteran she kind of wrote it off to my past. If she had known I also had over a thousand rounds for each weapon I truly believe she would have reported me to the mental health authorities."

Kathy nodded knowingly. She remembered the conversations she and Tim had when he first suggested getting a weapon for their own defense. And she couldn't forget how dearly it had almost cost them.

"It wasn't until things started to really get bad that Michael showed up. As for telling you about the 'nudges'. Well, as I've mentioned before, I gave you a copy of 'Through the Fire, Without Burning' which spoke of a lot of these things, but you never read it. So, how could I talk to you about the rest?" Bob smiled, "Maybe YOU would have called the boys in the white coats."

"You said that 'small still voice' was never wrong. How do you know it was from God?" Tim asked.

"As I said, it was never wrong. I was 'nudged' by it to get the generator. That wasn't wrong. True, it was years before I even opened the box, but it wasn't wrong. After that year, I didn't have a need to use it again, until recently. But it still wasn't wrong. The answers you get from The Lord are always the right thing to do, even when you don't understand why."

"What about Mom?" Alex asked. "Why did she have to die? It doesn't make sense. She was the one who was always going to the gym, you didn't. She was the one who went to the doctor when she felt something was wrong. She sure seemed to be in good health. So why did she have to die?" Clearly the thought was troubling him.

"I don't know son. I wish I did. I prayed for her for over twenty years. I don't have a clue as to why she died unsaved. All I CAN tell you is that there were many times she saw Gods’ provisions for us. But she always gave credit to luck, or something else, anything else, but never God. Also there is no way she would have been able to put up with what we've been through already. I don't believe she would have been able to handle what is coming."

"What is coming, Bob?" It was Tim this time.

"Dimitru Duduman said he was told that when we go to war with China, over Taiwan, that is when Russia would hit us from behind, and I quote, 'America WILL burn.'"

The Presidential radio addresses had also become something of a regular event. Not so much for any sense of hope, but to let them know just how bad things had gotten. Bob sat waiting for the war with China to be announced as a fact, and not just posturing by governments. He was surprised when he heard of something else that actually happened.

They were calling it 'The Washington Massacre'. The American people didn't blame the President for the west coast earthquakes. They didn't blame him for the mega hurricane that had done so much damage to the entire southeastern coast. Many understood that the armed forces had to deal with shortages, just as they did. They were dissatisfied with the response that left their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and loved ones of all kinds at even greater risk than they had been. They became angry when the President pulled two carrier groups out of the Middle East, to support the Chinese mission. They knew that that move left their loved ones without a means of getting them all out, if things got worse.
Then when the carrier groups were wiped out by the Chinese nuclear missiles, and the troops on the ground in the Middle East came under even heavier attacks, they did blame him.
The crowds around the White House had started to grow to unmanageable size. They also became angrier by the hour. When they heard about the loss of the carriers, they descended on the White House and the Congress building with the seeming intent of taking them apart, brick by brick.

The foreign troops may not have known what to do about ever growing crowds, but they knew about quelling riots. They opened fire. They continued to fire long after the resistance had stopped. The dead were almost beyond counting.


Claire's' televangelist had once again been put on the air pleading for people to come back to the cities, with promises of food, housing, warmth on cold nights, and all the rest. Claire had convinced him that it was in the best interest of the members of the church to come into the cities. That way they could all be taken care of at once. He just didn’t inform the televangelist exactly what kind of care he was talking about. The foreign troops guarding Washington D.C. had no idea who belonged there and who didn't. But they did have orders to allow anyone trying to get into the city to enter, just to not allow them to leave again.



"Are you certain the master wants me to do this?" The President asked. "Who cares what those useless eaters think? Who cares what they want? It doesn't make any difference."

"Are you questioning me?" The messenger asked in a deceptively mild voice. "Maybe you are questioning the master himself?"

"No, it isn't that. I just don't understand why I have to speak to them."

"The master has his plans. You just do what you are told. The regional directors have already gotten their orders, and have left Washington."

"They're gone? I thought they took orders from me."

"We all take our orders from the Master. You have yours, carry them out. Tonight!”

"I will obey."



Claire and another director were sitting in a plane as they were flying out of the city. They spoke quietly to one another.

"You are certain of the master’s plan?"

"Yes."

"Why would he do it? This one has helped us a great deal."

"He wants power too much. Do you really think the master will tolerate any challenge to his authority?"

"No, he won't."

“It would only be a matter of time before that monkey started to think himself better than the Master. It suits his plans better to take care of this one this way.”

The President was just starting to speak.

"My fellow, Americans. I want to speak to you tonight about the rising level of violence in this land..."

That was when the first Russian bomb detonated over Washington. Within seconds, numerous other cities were also wiped off the map of North America. The 'Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave' ceased to exist at that moment.

 

[day late]

Bob had been itching to leave. He thought that they had been in this town to long. They had done everything that was needed. Their supplies had been replaced, they had the chance to rest, and they had even managed to pick up a few needed items, such as Todd's' weapons, and the games. But, he knew the longer they stayed where they were, the greater the chance was that they would be discovered. It was time to move on as far as he was concerned. What bothered him the most was that Michael hadn't returned yet. He supposed that he should take comfort from that, but after having spent so much time on the run, he couldn't get used to staying put.

It was that same night he brought up the matter to the rest of the group. It was just before the Presidential address.

"I don't know what to think." He told them. "I really believe that we should be moving on, but I haven't gotten any instructions yet."

"Dad, didn't you say that we shouldn't do anything without our guide?"

"Alex is right, Bob. We should wait for Michael to lead the way. After all, The Lord hasn't let us down so far. I'm willing to wait on Him." Kathy said.

"I know, I know. You're both right, I just don't like sitting here this long. What if a helicopter comes by? We've been careful not to disturb much of anything, but still, anyone who looks carefully can tell someone has been here recently. I don't like it."

Tim spoke up, "I'm sure The Lord wouldn't leave us here without a reason. Tell you what. Lets’ listen to tonight's' follies, and then see what we think in the morning."

The 'follies' was the name they had given to the radio addresses given by the president. Bob agreed, and the switched on the radio, just in time to hear;

""My fellow Americans. I want to speak to you tonight about the rising level of violence in this land..."

Unexpectedly, the radio went dead. At first, nobody could figure out what had happened. Then, suddenly, in the distance off to the southeast, the night sky became brighter. For a moment, it seemed as if a new small sun had come to life. Then, just as suddenly, it dimmed and faded away.

"What was THAT?" Tom asked?

"I think that was Las Vegas." Bob answered. "If I'm right, everything that Dimitru prophesied is happening now."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"If this is what I think it is, Vegas, D.C., New York, what is left of California, and Florida have all been wiped out. Now I know why we have been left sitting here. We have to get ready."

"Ready, for what?" Asked Kathy.

"If you were living in a city that hasn't been bombed, say Colorado Springs, what would you do when you find out what has happened?"

"I'd get out of there."

"What about the troops guarding the cities?" Asked Bob.

"Nothing would stop me. Not even them."

"Exactly right. By this time tomorrow, there are going to be a lot of people trying to do what we've already been doing. A lot of them are going to die. Either by troops firing on them, or from not being prepared for this, they will still die either way. The ones that make it this far are going to be either have been led here as we were, or the toughest people to make it out. If they are the second sort, they won't be in the mood for anyone telling them where they can or can't live. Or what they can or can’t do. They are just going to take what they want, and kill anyone that gets in their way. We need to be ready for that."

"Bob. There are only six of us that can fight. How are we supposed to defend this place? More force multiplication?"

"No. That won't work here. There are too many ways into and out of this place. We'd never be able to defend them all. Especially with only six people able to fight. We need another plan. Let me sleep on it tonight, maybe something will come to me."

"What about those people who are running from the cities?" Kathy asked.

"Even if they left right now, they would still take a few days to get here on foot."

"Won't they be driving Dad?"

"Those who are close enough to the blast won't be driving anywhere. EMP will stop them."

"EMP?”
"Electro Magnetic Pulse. It’s a blast of electromagnetic energy given off by the bomb. It will kill any unshielded electronic device. I'm not an expert, so that is the best I can explain it. But, that includes car ignitions. Most people will be on foot, alright. And if they can get outside the affected area, they will have to fight with the owners of any working cars that are still around, not to mention each other. I think we have a few days to a week to work something out."

"Do you think those who weren't in the affected areas will come this way?" It was Alex. "If they do, how long before they get here?"

"I can't say, Son. But we should be safe enough for tonight. I think we should all try to get some sleep. It just might have to last us for a while."

With that, they all turned in for the night. However it was a long time before they all finally fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning, Bob was the last one to awaken. Nobody wanted to do anything to disturb his sleep. They knew he would sometimes receive dreams or visions, and no one wanted to disturb him. When Bob finally did get up, it was clear he was in a much better mood than the night before.

"Well Bob. Are you going to tell us, or do we have to drag it out of you?" Kathy said, with a smile on her face.

"That obvious, is it?"

"Yes. When Michael comes for a visit, you become very calm. What did he say this time?"

"Actually, it wasn't Michael. It was a dream. I was shown that we aren't to leave here yet. There are others coming, and we need to be here when they arrive. However, we need to do a couple of things before they get here. Tim? Could you come here for a minute?"

"What do you need?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there some mouse traps over in the store?"

"I think so. Why? Are you having midnight callers?"

"Not that kind. Could you get a few of them for me?"

"Sure. Sam, come with me." Tim called over his shoulder as he started to leave. The two of them headed towards the store.

"Mouse traps? What do you have in mind, Bob?" Kathy wondered.

"Watch and learn young lady, watch and learn. Alex."

"Yeah Dad?"

"I need to go to the truck. Would you take the other side of the building I'm next to, and make sure I don't have any surprises."

"You got it."

Bob turned and headed off to his truck. In the back, he had a hodgepodge of different items, many of which seemed to make no sense. But when something was needed, he always had something that would do the job. As he turned the corner, he was brought up short by what looked to him like a sewer pipe pointed right at his nose. A female voice quietly ordered him;

"Quiet, and DON'T move."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Who are you people, and how did you get here?" She asked angrily.

"We're refugees, trying to hide from the military patrolling the cities." He looked over the barrel of the shotgun, and saw a woman, about his own age. She was handsome, rather than beautiful. With a face that was starting to show the usual signs of age. Her eyes were a deep brown, like her hair.

"Why did you come here? This place is in the middle of nowhere."

"That's why we came here. A lot less likely that anyone is going to be looking for us out here. Look ma'am, if we are trespassing on your property, we will be happy to move to another part of town. We truly mean you no harm."

"Sure you don't. How can I believe that?"

"By this.” He glanced over her shoulder, and said; “Alex, put the gun down."

"You don't really expect me to fall for that old one, do you?"

From behind her the woman heard the familiar whack-whack of a shotgun.

"Old, but true." Alex said.

"Alex, I told you, put it down. Obviously this lady lives here. We are in her town. Besides, if you do anything, I think the young lady behind you would be VERY unhappy."

Alex felt the muzzle of a weapon in the small of his back.

"Yes, I would." A voice said quietly.

"Okay I get it." Alex lowered the weapon, but still held on to it.

"Ma'am, there is no reason for this to end badly. We really have no intention of hurting anyone."

The shotgun Bob had been staring into lowered.

"You certainly are a polite one. Well, we'll give you a chance. How many are you?"

"There are eight of us in all, two aren't yet teenagers. Please let us show you our good intentions. We still have some things left over from breakfast, would you like to eat?"

"We could stand to have a meal."

"Then please, come with me."

"Alright. You can keep your weapons, but both of you walk in front of us."

"Mom?" The girl questioned.

"We can't carry them all, and besides this way everything looks normal."

"If you say so."

Bob was starting to like this woman. She thought much like he did. Slowly Bob turned, and called Alex to walk beside him, which he did. As they moved towards the adobe house, Tim and Sam were just returning from the store, a half dozen mouse traps in hand.

"I found them Bob.” Seeing the woman and her daughter, he stopped suddenly and said. “Whoa! What's going on?"

"Take it easy Tim. We are going to see about breakfast for our visitors. Bring those, and come along. And Tim, don't make any sudden moves please. It could be hazardous to my health."

Tim and Sam also turned and started walking to the house. As they got near to it, Tim called to his wife.

"Honey, we have company."

Kathy looked out the window, and saw the two women behind Bob and Alex. She smiled.

"About time some other women showed up. I was starting to get a little frustrated not having someone to talk to about you guys."


It wasn't long before Maria and her daughter, Michelle, Mike to her friends, were sitting down, both eating and chatting with Kathy, as if they were old friends. Their shotguns having been set aside during the meal. Bob didn't know if it was her years as a dentist, or just natural charm, but Kathy had that affect on people. She could put anyone at ease in record time. Soon the subject Bob had been dreading came up.

"When we left here a month ago, one of our friends decided to remain behind, to kind of keep an eye on things. You haven't seen anything of him have you? His name is Todd."

Lacking the words, Bob pulled the will from his pocket and gave it to Maria. After reading it, Maria sighed, and said,

"I would have never believed something like this would happen to him. He was one tough old bird. It's a shame."

Michelle took the paper and read it. She too sighed and handed it back to Bob, while saying nothing.

Tim cleared his throat to break the silence, and asked,

"Bob, why did you want these things." Tim said and held up the package of traps.

"Ah yes, I was about to do something about that when our friends showed up. Wait here."

He left the room, but returned shortly, carrying distress flares from the back of his truck. They were the kind used by boaters. They were really nothing more that a pistol like launcher for flares that resembled shotgun shells. He also had a small spool of wire, pliers, and a knife. Taking one of the traps, he carefully cut a hole in it, just the right size to hold one of the flare shells. Then he took some of the wire and wound it around the bar that would slap down trapping a mouse. He pulled back the bar, slid the flare under it, and gently lowered it again.

"What is that?" asked Kathy.

"It’s our early warning system. Or, at least part of it. What we do, is attach this trap to a tree, or rock, with the flare pointing up. Run a trip wire across the road, or trail to the trap and set it. Something hits the wire, sets off the trap. The piece of wire I wrapped around the bar, will act like a firing pin, and that sets off the flare, letting us know that someone is coming, and from which direction. As we all know, there aren't enough of us to defend this town, but if we can find out what they look like before they get close to us, the better chance we have to decide if we should stand, or bug out."

"What happens if we make the holes in these traps too big?"

"A little of that white paste kids use in school should hold them in place. Let’s go ahead and set this one on the main road into town. Not on this close ridge, but the next one out. We'll need as much time as possible."

Bob picked up the trap, and headed for the door, with Tim following close behind. Once they were outside Bob waved Alex over to him. Speaking quietly he told him;

"Son, I want you and Tom to take the 4X4 and check the dirt road that leads up into the hills around here. If we have to leave, I want to use the road that offers the most cover. Drive out for one hour, and then come back. Get an idea of what's up that way. When you get back, rest a while, and then do the same with the dirt road that leaves the other side of town. Understand?"

Alex nodded, and left to find Tom.

"Why not just ask Maria?" Tim asked.

"She has just joined us. She doesn't entirely trust us yet. And I don't entirely trust her either. As you know, trust is earned, never given. What if there is something out there that she doesn't want us to see? She could send us in the completely wrong direction. Best we check it for ourselves. Besides, with the way Alex was looking at Michelle, I thought it a good idea to separate them for a while."

 

[day late]

Chapter Ten


Between setting up their alarm system, and waiting on Alex and Tom to return from their scouting, it was the next morning before Maria was able to speak with Bob again. It happened while they were enjoying their morning coffee.

"Bob. I want to apologize for pointing a gun at you yesterday. I didn't know who you were, or what you might do to Mike and myself. I had to protect us. You do understand, don't you?"

"Certainly. I would have done the same thing myself, in that position. But I would like to ask you not to do it again."

Maria smiled. "No, I won't. I know you better now."

"How so? We haven't said much to each other since... shall we say, since we met."

"Kathy and I had a long talk yesterday. You were part of it. Is it true that you have had conversations with angels?"

"Well, mostly I listen. But yeah, the Arch Angel Michael does show up sometimes to tell me things."

"Has he said anything about what to do about the invasion?"

"INVASION? What are you talking about?" Kathy demanded.

Bob looked at her. "I'm sorry Kathy. I've said so much to so many people, I've lost count of what I've said to whom. But think about it this way. Do you think that anyone would bomb us, and NOT follow up with an invasion?"

"I suppose you're right, but why would they invade? I mean there's nothing left."

"That's not quite true. Yes things were getting short, but there are still a lot of cattle out there in the fields somewhere. That's also true about all farm animals, such as horses and pigs. Same goes for crops of every kind. Things were in short supply, but there were still available. That is also true of natural resources. We still have oil in the ground, minerals, and other things. They want what we have, it is just that simple."

"Well, at least they'll have a hard time getting into the country."

"What makes you think that?"

"The West and Gulf coasts are all torn up. They won't be able to come ashore there."

Bob shook his head. "Kathy, will you think about what you are saying. These soldiers are trained to land in areas that have undergone a bombardment by naval and air forces, for an extended period of time. I think they won't have much of a problem at all. There won't be an army there to fight them off. No resistance that amounts to anything at all. They have most likely landed and established a sizable beach head already."

Kathy paled at the thought. "What do we do?"

"We wait until The Lord tells us what to do. In the mean time, we do what we can to prepare for that day."

"Bob, we can't fight off an army."

"We don't have to. They won't send an army this far out. Maybe we’ll see a small unit or two, but nothing too large. Besides, like I said before, I was told that there are others like Maria and Michelle, coming this way. Lets' just wait and see what The Lord brings our way."



Director Claire was both pleased, and displeased by the current state of affairs. On the one hand, the invasion by the Russians, Chinese, and Cubans was going well. The Russians were having the hardest time. An early and heavy snowfall was slowing them up along the Canadian border, but they were making progress. His region in the southeast had offered almost no resistance. Of course, there weren't many left to resist. But now, the director of the north central region wanted help in getting his area under control.

What had displeased him was when one of the camps full of Christians had been hit by an off course missile. It wasn't nuclear, but it WAS large. At least half of them had been killed outright. Another twenty-five percent had been badly injured. That meant he would have to wait for them to heal, before he could do anything else with them. Worst of all, after the head count was taken, ten percent of them had escaped. He knew that this would mean they would spread warnings about what really happened in the camps, so their recapture was now high on his list of things to do. And without the gangs to do the footwork that meant getting the invading forces to do the job, and they were still a long way from even being close enough to help. What military forces were left in the former United States weren't going to do anything. They were too busy trying to do something about the invasion. The same was true for the local law enforcement. What to do?

He knew the televangelist wouldn't be of any help, even if he had survived the missile attack. Nobody was going to believe him anymore. Then an idea came to him.

Calling in his secretary, he dictated an order.

By Order of Regional Director Claire;

Due to the current situation, the Director hereby orders all able bodied persons to report to the nearest military, or law enforcement personnel, for service in defense of this region. Any persons not reporting for duty, will be considered to be aiding the enemy, and will be shot.

He smiled as he thought of it. Either the Christians reported for duty, in which case they would be recaptured, or they would be shot on sight for not helping in the regional defense. Either way, the problem was solved. He sent it out for immediate publication and posting throughout the region.



Director Claire listened to his new televangelist. He actually liked how the man spoke, and advised his counterpart in the northern mid-west to put him on the air, in order to help him bring his region under control. Claire had to admit it. This new televangelist was much better than the last one. While the last guy had whined and pleaded, this fellow breathed fire and brimstone. He found the change very welcome. And he was just as easy to delude as the last one. Where the last one wanted everyone to faun over him for keeping them safe, this one simply told others what to do and forced those who were less strong to serve him, because he was ‘Gods’ man’. The ego led him so far astray so quickly. Claire now listened to him speak. He started slowly, but where the last man had begged, this one commanded.

"My beloved people. I call you tonight to prayer and fasting. In the past few days, we have suffered the loss of many of our brothers and sisters. As we all know, enemy forces have invaded and begun killing our people without regard to age, or sex. They have been killing men, women, children, even our older generation. Many of you have heard another dear brother on this broadcast. Even he wasn't safe from these invaders. Pray for them weep for them, fast for their souls.

Now we face the greatest challenge we have ever faced. When we were down, others sought to destroy us. We were invaded by a ruthless enemy. Now, we know that we have been blessed in this country. And now someone seeks to steal our inheritance. We have a duty to our church and our faith to protect them. For it is written;

1Ti 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Does that not include defending ourselves, against foreign invaders?

Now our friend and benefactor Director Claire has volunteered to help us with this righteous and justified act. He will aid in the direction of our people in the fight. For he HAS military experience. Without a government, we NEED someone to direct our fighting men and women. He has called for ALL true believers to bare this burden. I know many of you are frightened by this task. Fear not. For if The Lord be for us, who can stand against us?

I know there are those who would tell you that we should hide from these troubles. Let me remind you of something.

Rev 21:8 But the COWARDLY, UNBELIEVING, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

WILL YOU BE COWARDS? Will you lose your ETERNAL REWARD by being cowards? I SAY NO! We are not cowards, and we will stand in the breach, as the men of old did. Those who tell you to hide are the cowards. And what will you tell your children and grand children? Will you tell them that you fought for this land when in truth you hid? Remember what I just read to you. ALL lairs have their place in the lake of fire. They want you to JOIN them in that lake of fire.

What do you do, if you know one of these persons? Know this my children; if they don't stand with us, they STAND AGAINST US. They ARE NOT true believers, and they are anathema. SHUN them, CAST THEM OUT from among you. Turn them in to the authorities. You can't have creatures like that at home with your wives and daughters, while you do your duty, can you men? You WILL BE doing the work of OUR GOD by turning them in."

Bob snapped off the radio.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I just can't take any more of this idiot. Talk about a carrot and a stick. Well, they've brought out a club."

"I have my own reasons for not liking what this man had to say Bob, but I'd like to hear yours. What do you mean by carrot and stick?" Maria said.

"Did you ever get a chance to hear this preacher they used to have on?"

"No. We were still out in the mountains."

"Well, it's like this. The preacher they had on before the invasion, he was the carrot. He pleaded with people to come back to the cities, or death factories as I think of them. He offered everything you could want these days. Either food and water, or a warm bed on cold nights, or whatever you needed and wanted that you could reasonably hope to get these days. He was holding it out to you as bait, to get you back to where they could get their hands on you. I'm sure a lot of people fell for it as well. But that wasn't enough to get all of us.

Now they trot out this guy. He's the club. Did you notice how he said that if you don't sign right up to fight, you are not only a coward, but an unbeliever as well? It seems our 'brother' out there has forgotten the very words of Jesus Christ, Himself.

Mar 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains.

Now I admit, this fellow isn't the anti-christ, but I don't think there is any doubt we are in the end times, so the words of Jesus still apply. And where is it that Michael has led us to? The mountains! And not only that, remember what he said to the twelve.

Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Isn't that what this guy is saying? Turn us in. Because they wouldn't want those who KNOW what is going on to be left guarding their families.

You have to admit one thing though. It is a clever trap. Sign up, and they've got you, as soon as they check your name on the list. Don't sign up, and you'll be probably shot on sight. If you aren't shot as soon as you come in, you get sent to the front. We die no matter which way we turn." He sighed in disgust. "Pardon me, but I need some air." With that Bob stepped out into the night.

He sat on the edge of the front porch, looking at the clear night sky, wondering how many Christians would be taken in this latest trick. There would be quite a few that would do as this new preacher told them to do, he knew. Then there would be those that would have had enough by now. They would walk in, and surrender themselves, hoping to go to fight, instead of straight to the camps. That way, they hoped, their families would be taken care of by whoever stayed behind.

Being so deeply wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn't hear Maria as she walked up behind him.

"That was quite a speech. Mind if I join you?" She said.

"Please, take a seat. Sorry if I offended you. I just get so tired of these so called men of God, that just don't understand that He said what He meant, and meant what He said."

"Not at all. I agree with everything you said in there, and now, out here. It makes me happy for two reasons."

"Oh? And what might they be?"

"You know what they say, 'the fruit never falls very far from the tree'. You're a good man Bob, and have you noticed how Alex and Mike are looking at each other?"

Bob chuckled to himself. "In the case of Alex, it's been kind of hard to miss. He's always been there to shoulder his part of the load, but if it is going to take him anywhere near Michelle, he can't wait to get started. And he's always the last to leave, as long as she is still nearby."

Now it was Maria's' turn to laugh. "It's been the same with her. If he is around, she wants the job that puts her close to him."

"Maria, I would like to ask you a favor. You see, I'm not attracted to male beauty, but I'm not ignorant of it either. Alex is a handsome young man, and when he chooses to, he can really turn on the charm. I think Michelle needs to know that."

"I have to ask a favor in return. Mike has always had a strong sense of self worth. And in the past couple of years, she has been able to really make that opinion stick with the young men that used to be around here."

"Oh? What happened two years ago?"

"She earned her second degree black belt in karate."

"I see. Not to worry, I'll make sure Alex knows about it.” He paused for a moment. “Funny how it works, isn't it. I mean, here we are looking the tribulation in the face, and we're worried about our kids."

Maria grinned at him, but said nothing. They both fell silent for a short time before Bob spoke again.

"I hope you'll forgive me, but where is Michelle's' father?"

Maria looked as if she wanted to cry.

"John was a trucker. He was taking a load of relief supplies to California. They told me an aftershock took out the bridge he was driving over. It was five hundred feet to the bottom."

"I'm sorry."

"That's all right. I don't suppose I'll ever quit missing him, but at least I don't cry half the night about it anymore. What about your wife?"

"Heart attack, about six months ago. I don't remember everything they told me, but I do remember they said she never knew what hit her. One minute she's working out on the treadmill at the gym, the next she was just gone. Nothing could be done."

"I'm sorry for you. I know it's hard."

"Like you, not as hard as it used to be. But I do still miss her."

Maria rubbed her arms and said, "It's getting chilly. I think I'll head back in."

She stood, and walked to the door before Bob remembered something.

"Maria? You said there were two reasons. What was the other one?"

She smiled at Bob and said,

"You'll figure it out. Good night."

 

[day late]

When Bob announced a hunting trip to be made with only bows, arrows and pistols, Alex began to get suspicious. It was when Bob said that they would be out overnight that Alex felt like he knew what was going on. It was a semi 'survival camp'. His father was taking it easy on the rest of them. He was allowing a small amount of food for each person, and even arranged for a few gallons of water be placed at a preselected camp site.

However, everyone would be responsible for making their own shelter and bed. Bob agreed to get the camps fire started, but only because the others had things more important than that to learn. They were all given only an hour to get the things they thought they would need, and then Bob started marching them out of town.

From the moment she heard about it, Michelle was interested. She had no idea that Bob had already spoken to Maria about his plan, and Maria agreed to let Mike try it if she wanted to give it a go. Now as Michelle hurriedly got ready to leave, Maria spoke to her quickly and earnestly.

"Mike, I'm concerned about this hunting trip."

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Mike, there isn't much time so just listen to me. While you are gone I want you to pay more attention to the father than the son."

"Mother!"

"Don't you 'Mother!' me. It's obvious to everyone how you two feel, and we can talk about Alex later. Bob is taking all of you out to find out just how much you remember, how much you know, and how much you need to learn."

Hearing the seriousness in Maria's voice she paused long enough to look her mother in the eye.

"Mom, believe it or not, that's why I'm going. I can handle myself in most situations, but I've never done anything like this. I think it makes sense. It’s as if we’re having a trial run before we have to do it for real."

To the surprise of everyone but Alex, Bob set a very easy pace going out cross country. The two younger members of the group had to be told repeatedly to take it easy.

"Tom, Sam, are you guys in a race? Slow it down. Do you have any idea how much noise you're making?"

"No." They answered together.

"Well, you are. For that matter, everybody take a break. Get a sip of water and get comfortable. I want to explain some things."

Bob had placed them in more or less a straight line. So now they gathered around and they all found places to sit near Bob, refreshing themselves. After waiting for a few moments for everyone to get settled he continued, speaking softly.

"O.K. folks, we need to make a couple of things clear. When you move through the brush, you have to do it quietly. You two fellows," He pointed at Tom and Sam. "You can't keep just walking along like you were on a street. You need to set your foot down, not just let it hit the ground. You have to look ahead of you and see where your next two or three footsteps are going to go."

"If we do that, we might not see anything." Tom said.

"If you don't do it, you won't see anything. The whole point of this is to see your prey, before it sees you."

"How do we do that if we're looking down?"

"You look in all directions. It takes a little practice, but it isn't that hard. First you look down to see where you are going. You look for the next two, three or four steps, and no more. That way you won't step on something or kick it. Which is what you have been doing. While you slowly take the next couple of steps, you look up, then to one side and then the other. Try to take in everything you can. By the time you've done that, you'll need to look down again for your next few steps. After that you just repeat it over and over as you move. Each time you look up and around, you are looking to see if anything has changed since the last time you looked.

Now you have to understand, The Lord made these creatures to survive in an environment that can kill them if they don't pay attention. That is why they always seemed nervous on the old T.V. shows. They are always on the lookout for something that might attack. That is why you move slowly, and as quietly as possible. You want to see them first.

But there is also hearing. You need to try to identify every sound you hear. After a very short time you'll learn to ignore the sounds of things that are of no interest, birds, insects, the wind in the trees and brush and you will be tuning in to the sounds that are unusual. I can't tell you of the number of deer and other animals I've seen, up close, simply by hearing them coming towards me and freezing in place. You freeze, because movement attracts the eye. If they see movement, they freeze until they can identify it. Then they either ignore it, or run from it. You have to do the same. You see, most animals are color blind, and they depend on detecting movement, not entire objects. Understand what I mean?"

They all said they did, and he gave them a chance to prove it by putting one of them in front of him on a rotating basis, until they reached the camp site. As they worked under Bob and Alex's instruction in building a simple lean-to type shelter, they all talked about how they had seen so much more wildlife doing it Bobs' way. The highlight of the trip being when both Michelle and Bob missed a couple of quick snap shots at a deer with the bows.

It was later that evening, and the fire was small, but burned brightly that night. It lighted up the front of the three shelters that had been quickly built with instruction from both Bob and Alex. For his part, Alex smiled rather smugly to himself as he tended the fire. Once he had built it up a little, he turned and went back to the log he had been sitting on. He remembered this game from his youth. He didn't envy Tim, Sam, Tom, or Mike. They were in for a real workout. His father had always called it 'sneak attack' or 'Indian attack'. The rules were modified for the circumstances, but were basically the same. After dark fell, and the fire had been built, Bob announced that he would be leaving the camp. He showed them a piece of paper with his name written on both sides. He folded it and put it in his pocket. Then he gave flashlights to everyone but Alex.

"O.K., it works like this." Bob started. "Your limit is the circle of light made by the fire. You stay inside that ring, and see if you can spot me. If you think you have, you shine the light on me and call my name. If it is me, I have to give up. If not, when you turn your light off you have to close your eyes and count out loud for five seconds. Sweeping an area with the light is not allowed. You have to shine it in just one place, at one time. We are going to see just how good you can detect things at night.

In the mean time, I have to sneak in here and put that paper I showed you someplace that can be clearly seen from the fire. Then sneak back out without getting caught. After that, I announce myself and walk in.

Now since Alex has played this game a few times, so his job is going to only be tending the fire. He can't answer questions, or tell you if he sees something. That is your job. Ready? Good. I get five minutes."

With that, Bob turned and walked out into the darkness. Alex enjoyed watching mainly the younger men run around the fire, suddenly stabbing into the night with their lights and calling out Bob's name. Only to turn the flashlights off moments later and loudly count to five. He wondered if he had been so excited about this game, and if he played it this badly when he first tried it. Soon he decided that at first, he probably did. Even Tim and Mike had done it once each.

As he sat watching the fire, he first felt something moving around his ankles. Quickly glancing down he saw his father’s hand slowly reach between his feet, and place the paper with his name on it against the log Alex was sitting on, right between his feet. The hand then slowly pulled back, and Alex never heard his father leave. That was why he used to get upset with his Dad. He was so good at this game.

Alex waited for a good fifteen minutes before he spoke.

"Have you guys figured out that you should just give up yet?"

Michelle looked at him and said, "Have patience. Your Dad hasn't done anything. I think he's waiting for us to relax our guard and then make his move."

"Oh, really?" Alex asked. "What makes you so sure?"

"I have pretty good night vision. If he had come anywhere near here, I would have spotted him. I'm sure."

"I think Mike is right. I haven't seen any movement in the brush, and I haven't heard anything moving out there."

"Okay." Was all Alex said as he picked up another piece of wood and put it in the fire. By this time, everyone looking for Bob had drifted towards the shelters. As Alex turned and walked back to his seat, he called out.

"Alright, Dad. Are you going to tell them where you are, or should I?"

Everyone looked past the shelters following the direction of his gaze. They were startled when Bob answered from behind Alex, on the other side of the fire from next to a bush he had been squatting behind.

"Well, I was having fun just listening to them, but I guess it's time I came in."

As he expected, Bob was greeted with a chorus of 'What the...Where did you come from?' and other such comments. It wasn't until Sam loudly demanded an answer that he said anything.

"Hey. Where's your paper? I don't see it."

Before Bob could answer, Alex said, "Right here." bent down and picked it up to show them.

"Bob, how did you get that thing there? I didn't see a thing out there." Michelle wanted to know.

"And I was really listening for you." Tim said. "Mike and I decided to each concentrate on one of those. I never heard a footstep."

"Let me start at the beginning. Once you get away from the fire and your eyes adjust, you can see a great deal more. The trick is to not look at anything too bright. I didn't look at the fire, I watched you. From about fifty yards out, I could stand up and walk around as I pleased. Michelle, you said you didn't see anything. What were you looking for?"

"Mostly for some kind of movement, like the deer we shot at."

"That's good, but let me show you something.” He raised an arm and pointed into the night. “Look out here and tell me what you see."

Michelle looked in the direction he pointed and said, "I can see the trees, that open area, and I can even see that deer trail over to the left."

"Very good, except you didn't see one thing you believe you saw. You didn't see the trees. You see the shadows made by the trees you saw earlier today, and call them trees. But look into the shadow. Do you see anything? What is at the base of that tree? You can't see that, can you? I circled the camp in those shadows, until I noticed the shadow of the log Alex is sitting on is low to the ground, but it extends almost to those bushes. I stayed in the shadows the whole way. That means, the reason you didn’t see anything is because I was always in the dark, while you were partially blinded by the fire light. The reason you didn’t hear a footstep is because I crawled the last thirty yards into camp."

"But why didn't we see at least some movement?"

"First of all it is hard to see into the dark, as I've said. Secondly, do you feel that breeze? When I started to get close, I only moved when the wind would cover my movements and sound. Believe it or not, there are animals out there right now, moving around and making the bushes move. But they remain away from the light, so you don’t see them."

"Alex when did you see the paper?" Mike wanted to know.

"When he put it there about twenty minutes ago."

"And you didn't say anything? I mean I know you weren't supposed to, but I mean...Oh never-mind."

"Don't blame Alex. Blame me, I made the rules. Now. Back to the subject. Looking and listening are fine, but everything changes after the sun goes down. You have to adjust for that."

"How do you adjust for what you can't see?" Tim asked.

"Alex? How did you spot me?"

"I saw your silhouette in the shadow of the bush you were next to."

"You see, you were looking for me. If it were day light, you'd be looking for part of my shirt or something. Alex knew to look for a different kind of sign of me. Chances are if you ask him, he noticed a change in the shadows before anything else."

Michelle looked at him and he nodded. "I spotted Dad about five minutes before I asked him to come in."

"Now suppose there hadn't been a breezy night. I would have done the same thing, just done it a little slower. One other thing you should know. Since that is also the general direction of our shelters, it broke up what you are used to seeing. That meant you would be less likely to spot something different, because everything is different."

 

[day late]

"What do you mean different. It's darker, sure, but it still looks the same. Trees are still trees, rocks are rocks, and so on." Tim said.

"That much is true, but it is your perception of them has changed. I remember part of a poem I heard a long time ago. It goes like this;

Cold hearted orb, that rules the night.

Removes the colors from our sight.

Red is grey and yellow, white.

But we decide which is right, and which is an illusion.

I've always found that to be true. Like the shadows I was talking to Michelle about. I'm sure you remember getting the branches for your shelter. You might have noticed there was a good sized boulder over there. Can you show it to me now?"

Tim looked in the direction of the tree line. "Uh no, I can't. It's in the shadows, but I know it's there."

"Oh, I'm sure nobody has moved it, but because of the change in the amount of light, your perception of it has changed. If you were a ship at night, it would possibly sink you, even though you knew it was there. Just because at night you are missing all the usual landmarks and such. Here is a little thing I want everyone to do, to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. First, close or cover one of your eyes. Then we wait for five minutes. After that, I'm going to take you out of camp, one at a time, so you can see what I mean."

After several minutes of chatting, Bob stood and spoke.

"Okay Tim. You are our doubting Thomas, so I guess I'll start with you. Everyone keep that eye covered, Tim and I will be back shortly and then it will be somebody else's turn. Come on, Tim. I'll help you, so you don't trip on anything on your blind side."

Together the men walked a short way from the camp. Once they had gotten far enough away from the light of the fire, Bob turned to Tim.

"The rock I spoke about is right over there." Bob pointed into the night. "Do you see it with your uncovered eye?"

"No. It's just like you said. It is all shadow."

"Alright, on the count of three, change eyes. Look with the covered eye, and cover the one you've been using. Ready? One, two, three."

Tim switched eyes.

"Can you see the rock now?"

Tim looked, and was surprised to find that he could indeed, not only see the stone, but he saw it with much more detail than he expected.

"Now, switch back."

Tim did, and commented. "I am starting to see it with the other eye, but it's just the outline. I guess I'm getting adjusted to it."

"But do you see how much your perceptions have changed without the light?"

"I do see. Thank you. I guess sometimes you have to see some things for yourself."

"Here's one more thing. You were talking about listening. Things even sound differently in the dark. Listen." Bob picked up a rock and threw it. Tim couldn't believe how much noise it made when it hit.

"Alright, it sounds louder. So why couldn't I hear you?"

"First of all, obviously it made the same amount of noise right now, as it would have in the day. However at night, there are fewer distractions and you see less, so your sense of hearing tries to compensate for it. That means you hear more. If you truly understand that, you adapt the way you move in order to make less noise. Like when I crawled into camp to put my piece of paper down."

Bob had a variety of conversations as he brought each member of the group, with the exception of Alex, into the night. Michelle was next.

"Thank you for showing me this Bob. I'd never noticed it before."

"Let me show you something else. You remember how the poem spoke of how colors change without the light?"

She nodded without speaking.

"When we left camp, your shirt was a light grey. Mine was blue. Look at them now."

Michelle looked down and was startled to see that in the dark, her shirt was almost white. Glancing at Bobs' shirt it looked almost black.

"I guess the change in lighting does more than I knew." She paused for a moment and spoke again. "I get the feeling you don't miss much, do you?"

"I try not to miss anything."

It was Sam's turn next.

"That's kinda neat Mr. Bob." He was quiet for a moment and spoke again. "Mr. Bob. You wouldn't use something like this to hunt for deer, would you?"

"No Sam, you wouldn't."

"So why are you teaching us about all of this?"

"You remember when those gang members were breaking into your house?"

"Sure. I've never been that scared before."

"What if things had ended differently? What if you became their prisoner, and managed to escape? Wouldn't you like to have a better chance to disappear into the night?"

"Oh, cool. I never thought of it that way."

Tom proved to be a little more thoughtful than others of the group.

"Mr. Bob, you've been teaching us an awful lot that can be used for more than hunting and some things like this can't be used for hunting at all. Haven't you?"

"Yes I have Tom."

"You think we might have to use this stuff to protect ourselves, or escape from the people that are after us." It wasn't a question Bob noticed, and decided to speak to the young man straight from the shoulder.

"Sit down for a minute. This takes some explaining. Tom, do you believe we are in the end times?"

"I haven't seen the antichrist yet, but it sure seems like it to me. I mean storms, earthquakes, famine, wars, just about all of it is happening."

"Have you thought about what that really means for you and your family as Christians?"

"I guess it means that Satan wants to kill us all."

"That's right. But it also means that anyone that isn't a Christian either is, or will become your enemy. Did you ever hear anyone talk about different colored 'pick up' lists?"

"Sort of. Some of guys in my school talked about them. I never listened too much. It didn't seem like it would affect me. I mean Dad wasn't in the military. We didn't own any guns. What did we have to worry about? You know what I mean?"

"Yes I do. Most people reacted the same way. But now you can see that it did matter. If people had been allowed to have guns, those gang members wouldn't ever have gotten so far. But, I wonder if you see something else."

"What's that?"

"I'm sure that you have heard that these lists were different colors. Do you know that there are really only two lists that matter?"

"Which ones are those, red and green? Since they are the first ones killed I mean."

"No. There only two lists that really matter. The first is the one found in The Lambs' Book of Life, and second, everyone else. God knows who is on His list, and He is always looking for more people to join it. However, there are things people have lost sight of. You see, if your name is found in 'The Lambs Book of Life' you ARE on a pick up list, because Satan wants you dead. The only question left is if he gets his hands on you, will they kill you when they see you, or kill you later? But make no mistake about it. Satan will kill us all if he can."

"It kind of sounds like we’re done for."

"No, Tom. We are serving God. If He wants us to die, we will die. But what we will win, after this life, is worth it. If He wants us to live, it doesn't matter what list you are on, or what the enemy sends against you. You and The Lord will always outnumber any number of enemies."

"I never thought of it like that. Thanks Mr. Bob."

"My pleasure."

Early the next morning, Alex found his father fixing fresh fish for breakfast. First he checked the fire to make sure there was enough heat, and then he turned to his father.

"Good morning. Looks like your mini trot-line worked."

On the day before when they had arrived at the camp site, Bob had taken a small spool of fishing line and slipped four hooks onto the end of it. Then he tied an anchor onto the end and pulled a couple of feet of line out, before he made a loop and tied the first hook in place. Doing the same, he soon had all four hooks tied in place. After that, he pulled out yet a little more line cut it and tied it to a small tree near the water’s edge. Then he attached a cork to the line between the anchor and the first hook. It didn't take long after that before he had caught insects to bait the hooks with. He threw the anchor into the water and waited to see if any fish would bite the hooked insects.

"Tell you the truth Son, I'm surprised we did as well as we have. I caught two, and you had four on your line. I didn't think a lake as small as the one we've camped next to would have that many fish."

"So everyone gets fresh fish for breakfast. Don't get me wrong Dad. I like everybody, but don't you get tired of carrying them like this?"

"Son, I carried you for a lot of years. But that is what a father is supposed to do.” Bob said without looking up. “And as for everyone else? Well, we all have our calling. Mine has always been to help. I know, it isn't one of the more flashy gifts, like prophecy or tongues, but every man of God in scripture had those who helped him. I guess that puts me in good company, so who am I to complain?"

 

[day late]

Chapter Eleven


Claire couldn't believe his good fortune. He had really wanted to serve the master in Damascus. Especially since the United States was now out of the picture and no longer a problem. He was certain that he could stop the prophecy of 'that book' from happening. And if he could keep Damascus from being blown up, then the master would have been very pleased with him. Who knew what the reward might have been. He was so disappointed when he was told he would be working on bringing down the U.S.

But now, he was happy he hadn't gotten the post. Nobody had really expected the Israelis' to strike first. But they had. They had seen that with the U.S. down and out, they were alone, and had acted before their Arab neighbors could. Damascus, Babylon, Palestina, the land of Moab, and more, all gone. He was glad he didn't have to answer for this problem. The thought of what could have happened made him even more determined to make certain it wouldn't happen to him.

He then turned his attention to the war maps on his desk. Every director had them, and they were updated on a regular basis. They showed the progress of the invading forces in their quest to completely eliminate the rest of the United States from the map, once and for all.

The Russian troops that had landed on the eastern seaboard had made good progress, until they came up against the Appalachian Mountains. Once there, it was a different story. While roads remained passable, even for the heaviest of tanks, the locals held the high ground. It was proving almost impossible to dislodge them. Even when they could take a hill top, it seemed like there was always another one nearby that was either higher, or at the same height, which provided the Americans with good to excellent firing positions. Clearly someone with military experience was showing them how to mount a defense using the mountains, he thought.

What Claire didn't understand or realize, was these people had a history of using the mountains for everything from running moonshine, to re-enacting Civil War battles. They weren't going to give up. And by calling on every able bodied person to defend their lands, and their homes he had actually re-enforced, and re-armed the very people he was trying to eliminate.
The Russian forces that came down from Canada had easy going at first, but when a savage northwesterly front had caught them by surprise, the Russians got bogged down in the snow and ice, which made them sitting ducks for the Americans that rose up to fight them there. Well, as far as that went, it was the problem of another regional director, not him.

In the southern gulf region, things weren't much better. The Cuban landings had come off without too much trouble. After that, things had started going downhill. The problem there was all the swamp land, and thick brush. Vehicles and troops moved easily on the roads, but once they left them for the swamps, and thick southern forests, the result was much the same as the mountain campaign. Still for the time being, he wasn't in trouble with the master, problems like this had been foreseen, and he was expected to overcome them.

He had considered using chemical weapons in the mountains, but on the first couple of times they were used, the winds carried the gas down the slopes and onto the Russian troops waiting to go up into the hills. Nobody was happy with the results of those days.

He had an idea, it was extreme, but it seemed necessary. He needed to talk to his counterparts in the north, and west. They had to be ready for what he had in mind.



Alex was the first one to realize what his father had been doing. Ever since they had left their home town, Bob had been making a game of teaching survival skills to everyone. Starting with the children. Bob had a bow and arrow set that was suited for younger people. He taught them the art of archery, as a game. They never knew that this skill could someday become necessary to their survival. Later, he showed them the set of cards he had, that showed wild editable plants. Soon it became a game of who could find the most plants in the shortest period of time.

After the younger children were well on their way to gaining these necessary skills, he and Alex started in on teaching the adults archery. It wasn't long before everyone was trying to get a smaller grouping of arrows than anyone else, at longer and longer distances. One day Kathy had asked him,

"Bob, don't get me wrong, this bow and arrow stuff is fun, but what use is it? I mean, we have rifles, and shotguns, with plenty of ammunition, so why the Indian routine?"

"Firearms can break. Sooner or later, we will fire the last round of ammo, what do you do then? Go hungry? Not me. Also, while arrows can bend or break, we can always make more of them. There is also the matter of while a bow isn't as silent as the movies used to make them seem, they are very quiet. Suppose someone who is looking for us is on the other side of the ridge. You don't know he is there, and he is just as ignorant of you. However what you do know is that tonight's supper, just came out of the brush twenty yards in front of you. You could possibly down that deer, or whatever, and he would never know you were here." He paused before continuing.

"One other thing. Lets' say that the enemy has set up a storage depot on the other side of this ridge. We have found out about it, and have finally gathered enough people to attack it and win. You see that cactus just below the ridge?" Bob drew the bow, sighted and released an arrow all in one smooth motion. Suddenly the arrow was quivering in the center of the cactus. "That was a sentry they posted on this side of the ridge. He didn't see us, before we saw him. Now he won't call out a warning. It's true, he might scream, or make some other noise. That could be caused by anything. A snake bite, a turned ankle, or any one of a hundred other things. But a gunshot lets everybody know what is going on, before our people can get into position to attack the depot. Understand now?"

Kathy nodded.

"Then let me add something else. It takes a long time, and a lot of practice to become skilled at living in the out of doors. Some people never do get the hang of it. I'm sure you remember how it was before all this. Every winter, spring, summer, and/or fall, you'd hear on the news about someone getting hurt or killed out in the wilderness somewhere. And they weren't always new comers to what they were doing. But they would make a mistake somewhere along the way, and pay the price for that mistake. What I'm trying to do is give everyone the best chance I can to survive should something happen."

"So how did you learn all of these things?"

"I never said I'd lead a sheltered life, Kathy. When I was young, my father would take the family camping. Later I learned he did that because it was a cheap vacation. He wasn't a miser or anything like that we just didn't have a lot of money. My brothers and I, he took hunting every year, after we were old enough. Some of this I learned in the service. I've picked up some here and some there, all through my life. Given our current situation, I now know why The Lord led me down that bumpy road, and I'm grateful for it. It wasn't always easy, and sometimes could be quite painful, but the lessons stuck with me."

Once everyone had learned to at least scare the target with the bow, Bob set out with his next self-appointed task. He began to teach everyone how to make different types of snares. That included a basket looking thing, which he would place in a fast moving river, or creek, to catch fish. He taught them how to make a fire, and how to find the kindling, even in wet or snowy conditions. He taught them how to sharpen a knife, and the importance of keeping it that way.

"Lets' suppose I'm hunting in the winter. The ice on the river looks solid, but I find out the hard way it isn't. By the time I get out of the water, my rifle is at the bottom. What do I do? First, I make a fire, and get out of my wet clothes. Now I have my knife. With that, if I can find the right materials, I can make a bow and arrows. If I can't, my knife tied to a pole with a boot lace, makes a spear. It isn't going to be the best spear, but it is better than nothing. The point is that it doesn't matter how bad things get, if you keep your wits about you, and carry just a few basic items, you improve your chances of living through whatever happens."

"What if you lose the knife in the river at the same time you lose your gun?" Sam wanted to know.

"That's why I always carry two of them. One is on my belt, and the other in my pocket."

The lessons became more detailed as they learned. But without fail, Bob always made sure that on Saturday night, everyone was back in their new, if borrowed, homes. He had also worked out a schedule for somebody to be on the tallest roof in town, at all times, to watch for flares. It was one such night, when he was awakened by Tom.

"Something strange is going on." Was all he said.

Quietly, Bob got up and went outside with him.

"What is it?"

"It was really strange. There was a flash of light, way off to the east about three minutes ago. It was sort of like the time they blew up Las Vegas, but this one was up in the air. When I started to come get you, there was another flash just like it, off to the west."

"Thank you, Tom. Tell you what. I'll take the rest of your shift, and you go get some sleep."

"What do you think it was?"

"I'm not sure right now. I have to wait for daylight to find out. You go get some rest."

"Yes sir."

As he left Bob on the roof, Bob sat in the chair placed up there for whoever was on guard. He was pretty sure of what had happened. But there wasn't anything he could do about it now. If the Russians and the Chinese HAD set off bombs in the atmosphere to generate an Electro Magnetic Pulse, there still wasn't a need to wake everyone just yet. The news could wait for morning.


Everyone had gathered for breakfast, and after the blessing was said, began to eat. That is when Kathy approached Bob, with a problem.

"Bob. I think there is something wrong with the radio. I couldn't get it to come on this morning."

"I'm not surprised. As long as everyone is here, I guess we'd better talk about what has happened. Tom. Why don't you start?"

Tom quickly explained to the assembled group what he had seen in the night. After he spoke, before anyone could ask any questions, Bob spoke again.

"Now. I want everyone who is wearing a watch to check the time."

All of them did so.

"What's going on Bob? They blow up bombs in the atmosphere, and now our watches don't work? That sounds a little weird to me."

"Do you remember me talking about an E.M.P.? Well that is how it is done. A specially designed bomb goes off in the upper atmosphere, and sends out the pulse. After that, any unshielded electronic device, within range, is dead. What is left of America has just been sent backwards in time to the 1800s' at best."

"THAT can't be good. But why would someone do that?"

"My guess is that the Russians, Chinese, and anyone else involved in the invasion have found out that while Americans love their pleasures, we aren't going to just roll over and die because we have to do without them. It tells me there is some kind of fight going on for the remainder of the nation. And they aren't doing as well as they had hoped. So, knock out any remaining electronics, and you give the invaders the advantage. Their stuff is hardened against such measures. Civilian stuff isn't."

"Okay, that makes sense." Kathy said, "But what will it mean for us?"

"It makes sure that almost everyone that might come here will be on foot, horseback, or be driving an older vehicle, the kind without all the electronics in them." Bob frowned, "It also means we have to start checking for radiation."

"How do we do that?" asked Sam.

Bob reached into his pocket and pulled out a radiation detector. "With this. Hold on Kathy, I can see the questions forming in your mind. Remember I said unshielded electronics. That shed where I parked the truck and 4X4 is metal. It is also on a concrete slab, and grounded, like a lightening rod. It should have protected everything inside. This was one of those things. Lets' see if it worked."

With that, Bob switched on the detector, and was rewarded when a small red light flashed on, to let him know it was working. He set it to audio, so that they could all hear the occasional beep that indicated radiation had been detected.

"What do the beeps mean?" Tom asked.

Bob explained how the detector worked. At first he saw concern washing over Kathy's' face, and so he told her.

"There is always some small degree of radiation in the air. Mostly it comes from the sun. And that's fine. We can tolerate that. At this setting,” he pointed to the controls located under the meter. “Anything between zero and twenty-five 'beeps' per minute is safe. More than that, and we are in trouble."

Bob looked around for Alex, only to find that sometime during the demonstration, he had left. He had taught Alex about the detector years before, but it still irked him that he had left just then. He turned back to Kathy.

"Dear lady, you are our medical expert. Should this thing get to high of a radiation count, it will be up to you to take care of it."

"How do I do that? We don't have a bomb shelter, or time and materials to build one."

"With this." Alex called as he re-entered the room. In his hand was a box. He looked at his father. "Sorry about leaving in the middle of that Dad. But I could see where it was going, so I went and found this in the truck."

"Found what?" asked Tim.

"Let me guess." Said Maria. "Potassium Iodine."

"Right on the first try." Bob answered.

"Isn't that for protection against radiation?"

"Sort of, Kathy. What it does is fill the thyroid with 'good' iodine. One of the effects of a nuclear blast is that it puts radioactive iodine in the air. If it is breathed in, it lodges in the thyroid, and causes all kinds of problems. The bad news is that after age forty, in most cases, the thyroid shuts down. So if you are over forty, this isn't going to do you much good. But for the younger members of our group, it is very important."

Bob leaned closer to Kathy. "These have to be administered according to a combination of age and weight. That is your job, should it become necessary. I taped the information about that on some of the bottles."

Kathy reached out and took the box from Alex with a quiet "Thank you." to both Bob and Alex.

"Maria, how did you guess?"

"John and Todd. They were both vets. And had a lot in common. They were concerned about the possible need for it. I heard them talking about it."

"Shouldn't we figure out who gets how much of this?"

"Now, Kathy. You know a gentleman never asks a lady her age. You’re the doctor, so that's up to you."

 

[day late]

Everyone in Director Claire’s office was doing their best to either become invisible, or be somewhere else. Anywhere else was better than being near him. It had been a little over a week since the Director had gotten the Russians and Chinese to set off the nuclear bombs to cause the E.M.P. He had expected that once those who were resisting them were without power, the resistance would collapse like a house of cards. He was wrong.

Those who he was trying to break so that the final destruction of America could take place had been toughened by having to do without anything they had been used to before it all started. They had been nearly starved, frozen, attacked by roving gangs, and dominated by troops that didn't even speak their language. And they had had enough. The chance came for them to take a stand. They even had a preacher on the radio to tell them to stand and fight. When that happened, unregistered firearms that had been long hidden were brought out, cleaned, oiled, and loaded. They were still divided on the issue of who were real Christians, and who wasn't, but for the moment, it didn't matter. They had business to take care of, and they were doing it with a vengeance.

Claire couldn't for the life of him figure out how they were doing it. Even after the pulse, the damned Americans STILL fought on. Satellite photos were no help either. He had thought that they would show the Russian forces where the Americans were gathering, so they could accurately direct artillery fire, and air strikes. They showed nothing of the kind. The defenders had learned that things like 'space blankets' would defeat most high tech surveillance devices. All that was needed was to camouflage the blankets after they were in place. They had learned how to hide the heat signatures from even their own bodies. And Claire was furious. It was like trying to fight a shadow.

So far today, he had killed three men that had brought him more bad news. Things were starting to get REALLY bad, and many people who worked for Claire wondered how they could explain how they had been either tricked, or forced to work for the director, once they figured a way to quietly disappear.


It had been two weeks since Claire had gotten the Russians and Chinese to detonate the E.M.P. bombs. Yet STILL there had been only a slight improvement in the situation for the invading forces. The Russians were continuing to fail in breaching the Appalachian Mountains. The only progress that had been made in the south was along the Mississippi River. The combined force of Cuban and Mexican men had been able to make it nearly one hundred miles upriver. The bad news was they hadn't been able to exploit the extended beach head more than five to eight miles inland on either side of the river.

It was that limited progress that had saved him, when the same messenger that had visited the late president came to see him.

"The master is not pleased with your lack of progress. You were expected to have made much further gains by this time. You must improve on this situation. The failure of your counterpart in the north central region has already led to his being replaced. The movement you've been able to make along the river is all that has kept him from replacing you. And you know what that means."

An involuntary shiver went up Claire's' spine. He knew. The thought of the consequences of failing the master were terrifying even to him.

"Progress is being made, and once we have joined with the Russian forces coming down from the north, we'll have the country cut in two. After that, nothing can stop us. We'll have a back door into the eastern mountains, and crush the remainder of them between our forces and the ones coming in from the west. I just need a little more time to join with the northern armies."

"The northern armies?" The messenger scoffed, "Haven't you been listening? They haven't made ANY real progress that is why Dupree was replaced. You better have another plan for securing your sector. Help from the north will be long in coming. And if this replacement doesn't do any better, YOU may be required to help him. Have you thought about that?"

"I didn't think it would be necessary."

"It might be, so think about it. Speaking of thinking, the master isn't convinced you've been doing a lot of that lately. WHAT made you believe you would serve our purpose by having that preacher call the followers of the Nazarene to battle? DON'T bother answering. There is no excuse you could give that would be believed. You should have had him appeal to the pacifist side of those people. The master wants you to deal with him. Permanently."

"Perhaps you would like that honor. He was coming to see me just before you arrived. He is in the outer office right now."

What passed across the messengers face could only be considered a smile by the number of pointed teeth he showed.

"Yes, I would."

Claire signaled his secretary to allow the preacher to enter.

"Director Claire, I..." His voice failed as he saw the messenger. "What in the name of God..." that was as far as he got before being backhanded across the room, to land at Claire's' feet.

"In the name of God I bind you." he shouted.

Claire pulled the man to his feet, and then right off the floor.

"FOOL. What makes you think you can bind us? YOU HAVE SERVED US. Do you think the one you call on will help you now, when you couldn't even use the name of the Nazarene? You belong to OUR master." He easily tossed the man back across the room. The messenger caught him before he hit the floor.

Nobody knew for certain what happened to the preacher. They simply knew he had entered Claire’s office. There was some shouting, and when the director called for the cleanup crew, he wasn't there anymore, although it looked like most of his blood was.


Bob was in the metal shed, making a glass of colloidal silver with a small 'silver generator' that he had, when Maria came in.

"What ARE you doing?"

"Making colloidal silver."

"Ka-who?"

"Colloidal silver. Think of it as alternative medicine." He saw the questioning look on her face, and continued. "I first heard of this back when Alex was about six. They say that most viruses and bacteria can't survive in the same environment with pure silver. I mean .999 fine silver. I thought I'd give it a try. I've been taking it ever since."

"Does it work?"

"Well, you tell me. Alex is twenty-one now, and every year, up until the time he left home for college, Nancy would drag him down to the clinic for the two of them to get their flu shots. About one year in three, one or both of them would get sick. I never got the shots, and I never got sick."

"Interesting." was all Maria said. After a couple of minutes she spoke again. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"You can ask, but that doesn't mean I'll answer."

"Fair enough. Have you ever thought about finding someone else?"

Bob was quiet for a while, and Maria was starting to regret the question when he answered.

"That's kind of complicated. You see, Nancy and I were married for twenty-five years. We were very much in love from day one. Totally dedicated to each other, and our family. We were also the most mismatched couple you'd ever be likely to meet. She was a Democrat, I was a Republican. I enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, all of that kind of thing. She liked going to Macy's Department store, and cocktail parties. Then, of course, there was the matter of faith. I'm a Bible believing Christian. She, on the other hand was basically an agnostic. She believed that being good was good enough.

Anyway, after she died, I mourned her for months. Until one day I decided that she wouldn't want me to spend the rest of my life alone. That is when I made a startling discovery. After all that time, I was so far out of touch with the dating scene; I didn't even know what the rules are anymore. And to be totally truthful, I've never been able to figure out what a woman's motives or intentions are. So, as I was sitting at home thinking about all of this, the bottom started to fall out. Since then, there hasn't been time to even think about it."

"I see.” Maria paused for a moment. “Can I show you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"This." She pulled a locket from out of her shirt, where it hung by a chain from around her neck.

"I can't see it very well from here. What is it?"

"Come closer, take a look."

Bob moved to where Maria was sitting, and bent down to look at the locket. Maria dropped it, reached up with both hands, grabbed him by the neck, and firmly kissed him.

After a few moments she let him go, looked him in the eye and said,

"Does THAT leave any doubts about my motives and intentions?"

"Uh, no. I'd say that was pretty clear."

"So, what do you think?"

"I think,"

The door to the shed banged open, followed by a very loud call of "DAD!!"

"I'm going to beat my son senseless." He continued. "What is it, Alex?"

Maria chuckled as he turned away and then stood behind him as he and Alex spoke.

"The flare on the main road into town just went off. Tim is on the roof. He says he can see about four or five people moving out there."

"I'm on my way." Bob reached over and picked up his rifle, and saw Maria pick up her shotgun, from the corner of his eye.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"With you. And don't give me any of that macho stuff about it being 'man's work'. I can shoot as well as you do, and besides they might be locals returning home. If they are, I'd know them, and you wouldn't."

Unable to argue with the logic, he said,

"Alright. Just be careful out there."

"Yes Sir."

Alex fell in beside his father on the way to the near ridge. After they had gotten ahead of the others, Tim now having joined the group, he asked his father,

"Can I ask you what was going on in there?"

"NO, you can't."

"Oookay. Forget I asked."

As Bob moved further out front towards the ridgeline, Alex grinned at his father’s back.

Soon, Bob, Maria, Alex, and Tim were on their stomachs peeking over the ridge into the valley on the other side. Looking through his binoculars, Bob saw two men, a woman, and what seemed to be a teenage boy, but with the jackets they were wearing, it was hard to tell. Bob passed the binoculars he was using to Maria.

"Recognize anyone?"

Maria peered through them, for a few minutes.

"I don’t know. I think I've seen at least one of them before, but I can't be sure." Turning to Bob, she asked, "How do you want to handle it?"

He thought about it for a moment, and then he turned to her. "Feel like a walk?"

"Wait a minute, Dad. Why you? Why don't I go?"

"Because, after me, you're the best with this." He gave Alex his rifle. "And these people are going to be wondering what the flare was all about. An older couple is going to be less threatening than a young man."

"What do you mean older?" Maria asked as she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Okay, middle-aged then. Point is we're less of a threat. They will be less likely to panic and start shooting."

"Did you see any guns?" Tim wanted to know.

"No, but that doesn't mean they don't have any. Maria, leave the shotgun, and take just your pistol. I'll do the same. We're going to just walk straight down to them. If they make any sudden moves, take cover. Alex, Tim, if we duck, you two do what you have to. Scare them away, if possible, kill them if you must." He looked at Maria. "Ready?"

Maria nodded.
"O.K. Lets' do it."

Bob and Maria started down the ridge, headed towards the new comers. Tim and Alex watched them go. Shortly after they had left, Tim spoke up.

"If they are the ones headed down there, why am I so scared?"

"Think you're scared? I'm even more scared." Alex responded.

"What makes you think that?"

"Two things, first I've never shot at someone before."

"That makes two of us."

"Yeah, but second, that is MY Dad going down there, and I'm the one covering him.” Alex thought for a moment and spoke again. “Tim, I think we need to do something."

"What's that?"

"A couple of years ago, I was thinking of signing up in the military. Dad told me some of the things he went through. One thing he told me was that one of the worst things you could do was to have all of your firepower concentrated in one place. It was too easy for the enemy to hit that place, and wipe out everybody. I think we need to spread out a little."

"That makes sense. You go left, I'll go right. Try not to kick up too much dust and let them know we're here."

"My thoughts, exactly."

Tim and Alex moved carefully until they were about twenty-five yards apart. Meanwhile, as Bob and Maria moved down the hill, they had their own conversation.

"Bob. I think we have three men and a girl out there."

"I agree. One of them is a man with long hair. I thought he was a woman. The smaller one does seem to be a girl."

They fell silent as they continued forward. As they drew closer to the strangers, Maria spoke again.

"Bob, I made a mistake."

"How’s that?"

"That's not George."

"George?"

"He used to ride with John, as a relief driver. That is not him."

"Good thing to know. Did you notice the men all have side arms?"

"You mean the bulges under their jackets? Yeah, I saw them."

"Well, at least they aren't gunfighters."

"How do you know?"

"Later. What do you think about the girl?"

"She just looks scared."

"Agreed. We don't have to worry about her. I want to stop about fifteen yards short of them. Most people aren't very good with handguns. These guys don't strike me as the kind who has spent much time on the firing range. The extra distance might just make the difference. Besides, they will be slightly above us. I don't want to get in between them and our people."

"I see."

"Can you do fat, dumb, and happy?"

"What?"

"Act that way to lull them off guard."

"Oh. Yeah, I can do that."

"Good, follow my lead."

They both stopped at the agreed distance. Bob noticed that the girl had a bruise on her left cheek. He was getting a very bad feeling about the situation. Still he smiled broadly as they got close to the group, and affected a western drawl in his speech.

"Howdy friends. Glad to see you. I'm Bill, and this is my sister, Mary."

They waited for an uncomfortable period of time before anyone spoke. Finally the long haired man replied.

"Hi. I'm Charlie, this is Jack, and he's Johnnie. Nice to meet you. Are you responsible for the fireworks we saw?"

"That is our 'doorbell'. It lets us know when someone is coming."

"Well, ding dong, we're here. Is there anyone else around?"

"Oh, the town was evacuated a while back. We weren't here when it happened. So we've been waiting to see if anyone comes back. I don't recognize you fellas' you from around these parts?"

Bob noticed as they spoke, Jack and Johnnie had slowly moved to either side of Charlie.

"No we got out of the city when they started bombing them. Seemed like the smart thing to do. You know Bill, that's a mighty good looking sister you have there. You ever miss having a man around, Mary?"

"I'm fine. And in case you didn't notice, Bill is a man."

"Sure he is. But I'm not talking about brotherly love here."

"I'm sure you weren't."

"Wouldn't you like to have a man of your own? Say someone like me?"

"Not really. I like men who know what soap is for."

Bob spoke again. "Maybe you fellas’ should just move on. No point in anyone getting upset here."

Charlie laughed, followed by Jack and Johnnie. Bob noticed they seemed to take their cue from whatever Charlie said or did.

"Oh we ain't upset. But it seems a shame for a lady like Mary ain't got a man of her own. Maybe we ought to stay awhile."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"Think the two of you can stop us? I don't" Charlie reached for the pistol on his hip.

"DOWN!!" Bob hollered, and at the same time pushed Maria down behind a large rock, sticking out of the ground. He felt a blow to his back that spun him around, before he heard the shot. He continued to roll, as he hit the ground, until he rolled into a small depression in the earth. He was on his back, and looked at the three men. Jack and Johnnie were still trying to draw their weapons from under their jackets, as Charlie aimed at Bob for another shot. Suddenly, Bob heard a loud smack sound and Charlie was lifted off his feet, and thrown backwards, and the resounding BOOM of Bobs' rifle reached them as he hit the ground.

The other two men, with weapons now drawn, looked in the direction of the rifle shot. Bob pulled his pistol and fired once at Jack. The bullet hit him dead center, and knocked him backwards. Johnnie didn't know what to do. Shots coming from two directions had confused him. He didn't know which way to turn his attention. That is when the bullet from Tim's' rifle hit him. He joined his comrades on the ground.

 

[day late]

“Bob! Are you alright?" Maria called.

"Yeah, I think so." Bob answered. Then when he started to sit up, pain raced through the right side of his back. "No, I'm not."

"Lie still." Maria said.

"It's O.K. Look after the girl."

Maria did as Bob said. She moved closer to the girl, who had taken shelter behind another large rock. As Maria got closer, the girl shrank back from her. Wondering what the problem was, Maria realized that her pistol was in her hand. She holstered it, and held out both hands, while speaking softly to the girl.

"Hey, sweetie. It's alright. We aren't going to hurt you. Come on out. Let me have a look at you. Are you alright?"

She moved slowly, and continued to speak to the girl gently. As she leaned towards her, the locket she had showed to Bob earlier came out of her shirt, and revealed that a gold cross was on the chain as well. Seeing the cross, the girl reached out, and touched it, looking at Maria, with an unspoken question in her eyes. Maria said,

"That's right. We're Christians."

Soon, she was able to reach out and put her hand on the girls arm. Gently she pulled her to her feet. The girl suddenly clung to Maria as if her life depended on it, and started to sob.

"Bob? Are you okay?"

"I think they just winged me. My back sure hurts though. Take the girl back to town for Kathy to look at, and if you see him send Alex down here on your way, please. I'll wait here."

"Make sure you do that. Don't you go moving around and making things worse."

"Yes, Mother."

Bob really had no plans to do much, his back felt like it was on fire. However, as Maria and the girl moved away he decided it couldn't hurt to check the dead men for whatever he could learn.

Bob had expected that these men had actually told the truth about one thing. They fled the city after the bombings. Their drivers’ licenses showed they were from Reno, and their clothing was certainly not meant for living in the country. He heard footsteps coming closer. Looking up, he saw Tim jogging to him.

"Bob. Are you badly hurt?"

"I'll live."

"Can you get that jacket off? I'll check you."

Bob did so, and Tim was surprised at the amount of blood on Bobs' back, and after gently lifting the shirt, found a deep furrow carved in his back, right across the shoulder blade.

"I don't think it went in, you were just grazed."

"Where's Alex?"

"He's, uh, indisposed at the moment."

"Indisposed?"

"After the shooting ended, he wanted to make sure those three were down. He cranked the magnification on your scope up to the maximum. He got a real good look at what he did to the first one. I don't think he is going to be eating anything for awhile."

"I see. Well lets' get these bodies out of sight. There is a gully over there, we can put them in there, and bury them later."

"BOB. SIT DOWN!!!"

"What?"

"Bob, you're still bleeding. You might still go into shock. You sit here. I'll take care of it."

"Nonsense, I'm fine. Let me up to help you."

"Bob, you lived across the street from me for ten years. I saw you working in the yard countless times, so I KNOW there isn't a big 'S' anywhere on your chest. Now sit down, or I'm going to knock you down and sit on you until you show some sense."

Surprised at Tim's' forcefulness, he agreed, and let Tim conceal the bodies. Then once that was done, he let Tim help him up, and they headed back to town.

Tim and Bob came across Alex as they made their way back to town. He was pale, and still a bit shaky, but was standing on his feet unaided.

"Dad. Are you hurt badly?"

"I'll live Son, but thanks for asking."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come to you. I was..."

"Indisposed." Bob finished for him. "I know, Tim told me. Don't worry about it. I'd be more concerned if you weren't upset by this. Come on, lets' go see Kathy."

When there reached the edge of town, Sam came running up to them.

"Dad! Mom says to take Mr. Bob to the doctor’s office. She's there."

"Thanks Sam. Run ahead and tell her we are on our way."

"Yes Sir." and with that the youngster turned and ran back the way he came. As they entered the office, Kathy called out from the back of the building.

"Bring him in here, in the last exam room on the right."

After taking off his jacket earlier, Bob had simply hung it around his shoulders on the way back to town. Kathy removed it and carelessly tossed it to the side.

"Lie down on the exam table. Face down."

"Let me take off the shirt." Bob said.

"Don't argue with your doctor. Lay down."

Bob did so, and Kathy walked over to him with a pair of scissors. Once cutting the hem on the bottom, she slid the razor sharp scissors up through the shirt, slicing it cleanly until she reached the shoulders and the collar. With a couple of snips, she was through all of that as well, and opened it to get a look at the wound. At this point, Kathy realized she had too much company.

"Tim, Alex, go somewhere else."

"Hey! Wait a minute, that's my Dad."

"Alex, do as she says." Bob hissed through the pain. "Tim, that flare needs to be replaced. And I'd appreciate it if you could check the pockets on those three."

"Yeah. I remember. Come on Alex."

The two of them left, and Maria said,

"I guess I'd better go as well."

"No. I need you here. Talk to Bob."

"What do I say?"

"Anything, just try to keep his mind off of what I'm doing. Bob, I'm giving you a shot to help ease the pain."

Maria move around to where she could see Bobs' face, and asked him,

"How did you know they weren't gunfighters?"

"By they’re jackets. They had their guns under the jackets. It’s hard to do a quick draw that way."

"So did we."

"Yes, but our jackets have snaps. Theirs had zippers. I noticed that when we went down there, you undid the bottom two snaps. Why?"

"John always told me that if I needed to get to it in a hurry...Oh. I see."

"Exactly. You and I undid those snaps, so we could reach our weapons in a hurry. They had to either pull up the jacket, or unzip them. That takes longer."

"Speaking of weapons, what is that cannon you're carrying? I almost went deaf when you fired it."

".44 Magnum. It’s the same as my rifle. I know, I know, a lot of people like the .9 mm. But I prefer the penetration of a .44. Besides, with rifle and sidearm chambered the same, if either runs dry, I reach in my pocket, and feed whatever comes out to either weapon."

As they had been speaking, Kathy had worked quickly to clean and disinfect the wound. She was happy to see that the round hadn't done more damage than it had, but she knew that it would require stitches to close it. When she told Bob what she was going to do, he protested.

"Kathy, I can't do much with stitches in my back. Just put a bandage on it, and I'll be fine."

Kathy looked at Bobs' back for a moment, and then told him,

"Roll onto your left side. I'm going to give you another shot."

"Why? I'm not in pain anymore."

"Maybe not, but if you are going to be stupid about this, I want to give you some antibiotics to fight infection."

Bob did as he was told, and Kathy gave him the shot, with more orders.

"Bob, your wound has mostly stopped bleeding on its' own. I want you to stay here for at least thirty minutes, and give the blood a chance to clot a little more."

"Okay."

Kathy felt a tug on her sleeve. Turning, she saw the girl who had been brought in by Maria. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, probably younger. The girl didn't speak, but crooked her finger and moved away from the others. Turning her back to Bob and Maria, she signed for Kathy to stand in front of her. Once Kathy had, the girl looked shyly down, and opened the front of her blouse slightly for Kathy to see. She inhaled sharply at what she saw. Closing the girls blouse gently, she spoke to Maria.

"I have to take care of something. Will you please make sure he doesn't go anywhere for thirty minutes?"

"Of course."

Kathy led the girl across the hall into another exam room and patted the exam table, telling her,

"Sit here, and take off your shirt please."

She did so as Kathy got gauze bandages, disinfectant, and water for the job ahead. When she turned back again, the girl was nude to the waist. Her chest was covered with what seemed to be cigarette burns. Clearly the child had been through hell.

As gently as possible she began the task of gently cleaning the burns and treating the injuries. A cold hatred began to burn in her while she did what she could for the girl. She wondered silently what kind of animal could do such a thing. After finishing the girls’ front, Kathy walked around behind her, only to find more of the burns. So intent was she on treating the girl, she didn't hear Maria until she had opened the door and entered the room. She gasped at the sight.

"What happened to her?"

"Cigarette burns. Some of them have to be a week old. Maria, are you sure those three are dead?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I wanted to get my hands on them. What did you want?"

"Oh, Bob seems to have fallen asleep. Is he going to be alright?"

Kathy smiled. "You heard him. Stick band aides on it and let him go. If I did that, he'd be a lot worse within a week. That wasn't antibiotics. I gave him something to put him out, so I could sew him up. He'll be out for a couple of hours or more."

Maria smiled. "I wondered why you gave up so easily. What is it about him?"

"Maria, I've known him for a long time. He's always been this way. Everybody else's needs come before his own. Every time. No doubt he was already thinking ahead about something." After a moment, Kathy continued. "Maria, Bob is a good man, and I don't know if you've noticed how he looks at you, especially if he thinks nobody is looking. I don't know how you feel on the subject, but you could do far worse than a man like him."

"That's always been the problem, hasn't it?" Kathy looked questioningly at her. "A shortage of men. Oh there's always been plenty of adult males, but far too few men."

"I know what you mean. So does that mean you're interested?"

Maria told her about the meeting between them in the shed earlier. Kathy nodded approvingly.

"I'm glad to hear it. He needs a good woman, and you strike me as just the sort he needs."

"That's funny. He said the same thing. Just before he passed out, as we were talking he told me, ‘You know, I like you. You're my sort of woman.' I just wonder if he'll remember it when he wakes up."

"If he doesn't, I'LL remind him."

The women smiled at one another as they finished treating their second patient together.



Director Claire hated to admit that someone might have had a better idea than he did, but this time he was forced to admit it. The western regional director hadn't gone after the Christians as he had. Instead, he had relied on infiltrators to gain access to the scattered groups of believers. Then when they would gather some place for whatever reason, law enforcement officers would swoop in and arrest everyone they could put their hands on. Each arrest, after enough 'questioning', would yield more names of resistors and Christians to be picked up, and their likely hiding places. Then the process would begin again. It had proved to be quite successful. Now Claire would implement it here in the southern region, and bring an end to resistance to the new order once and for all. When that was done, the decreased number of fighters would enable the Russian, Cuban, and Mexican troop to finally finish their task. The death of America.



Tim entered the doctor’s office, and found Kathy and Maria sitting at a table, sipping coffee, and chatting after having gotten the stitches finally in place in Bobs' back. Now all they had to do was figure out how to keep him from being too active while his wound healed.

"Maria?"

"Yes, Tim?"

"Are you sure you didn't know any of those guys from this morning?"

"Quite sure, why?"

"We went back up there and checked them for anything that might give us an idea of what they were up to, and if they might have been working for someone else." He paused.

"And what did you find?"

"One of them had a list of names. Some of them were crossed off, others weren't. Your name, and Michelle's' were next on the list."

 

[day late]

Chapter Twelve


"WHAT? Let me see that." Maria shouted.

Tim handed over the list of names. Maria looked at the first names not crossed off, and turned pale. They were indeed the names of both Michelle and herself. She then scanned the names that were crossed off. An unpleasant feeling started to come over her.

"I recognize some of these names. They were members of a prayer group we used to belong to a couple of years ago." She continued to read. "There are a lot of them I don't know. Do you think they are coming after the Christians?"

"They've done just about everything else to get us. I'm just wondering if those guys were alone, or just part of a group out looking for us." Tim said. "How long is Bob going to be out?"

"I gave him a pretty good shot. It could be hours. What do you think we should do?" Kathy answered.

"I'm not sure."

"The first step in the resolution of any problem is to define the problem." Alex said from the doorway where he was standing. Everyone turned to look at him. "Dad always says that when I have a problem. So, what is the problem?"

"We need to know if anyone is coming after the three we killed, and if so how many. What else did you Dad say?" Said, Tim.

"The second step in the resolution of any problem is the acquisition of data. I think he got it from an old science fiction show."

"It's still a good idea. We can't put the flares out any further, we'd never see them go off. So how do we find out if anymore are on the way?"

"What about Dads' go-cart?"

"What?"

"I know, it doesn't go fast, but it goes faster than a man can run. And since it is so small it gets really good gas mileage. Someone else and I could ride out there away, and take a look."

"It's kind of loud Alex. It also is very open. Its’ got just a roll cage. You could get shot."

"I think I have an answer for part of that." Said Maria. "Todd was a prospector, did you know that?"

Tim and Alex shook their heads.

"Did you know he has an underground room at his place?"

Tim and Alex looked at each other, and both said,

"He does?"

"Yes, that was where he used to make his explosives for prospecting. One of the things he has down there was a kind of wall, made out of some sheets of some kind of bullet-proof plastic. He used it as a shield, just in case something happened. Maybe we can get a piece or two from that, and make a shield for the go-cart."

Again, Tim and Alex spoke together, "Show us."

After Maria and her daughter had joined the group, it was decided that since they would be staying in town for awhile, the only decent thing to do was to finally lay Todd to rest. Now, it seemed strange to Maria to return here, knowing Todd wouldn't be showing up with his usual cheery 'Hello' and broad smile. She missed him. It wasn't long before the three of them were entering the hidden lower room in Todd's' house. Maria warned the men.

"Be careful down here. Todd's' explosives were homemade, and I never really trusted them. I don't know if he was working on anything when he died. If that’s so, it could be unstable."

Tim turned on his flash light to illuminate the darkened room. He was happy that Bob had extra batteries in the shed with the truck and 4X4. They still had a charge. On a shelf on the far side of the room were bottles, all clearly labeled, containing various liquids and powders. On the shelf below, were numerous books, and papers. He picked up one book, to find that it was a U.S. Army manual. The title was 'Improvised Munitions Handbook', it was dog-eared with slips of paper sticking out, here and there, to mark certain passages. Tim had seen explosives used a few times before. The one thing he learned from those experiences was that if you didn't know what you were doing, it was a good way to make yourself dead in a hurry. He put the book down, without looking in it.

"How did Todd learn about this stuff?"

"John said he was in E.O.D. whatever that means."

"Explosive Ordnance Disposal." Alex answered. "Dad said he thought about doing that, once upon a time, while he was in the service. Then he got sober and changed his mind. After all, they are the guys that are called when a bomb goes thud, instead of boom."

"Maria, why didn't you tell us about this before?"

"At first I wasn't sure about you guys, Tim. Now, since Bob took a bullet to save me, I don't see how I could do anything else. You know how it is. Trust is something that is kind of hard to give sometimes."

"Earned but never given." Tim murmured under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just something Bob said to me. Where are those sheets of plastic?"

"Over by the wall. Todd always put them out of the way when he didn't need them."

Tim and Alex took a look at them. A foot wide, by four feet high, and over an inch thick, they seemed to be just the thing. Then they picked up one. It was heavier than it seemed.

"I don't know." Tim said."Something this heavy might weigh down the cart too much. It was a good idea though."

"Well, what about these?" Maria pointed to a box just under the shelves. Tim opened it. Inside were several vests of body armor, and 'coal scuttle' type helmet's.

"Much better. If anything happens to the cart, they will still have some protection." Tim thought for a moment, "Maria, is there anything else you might want to tell us?"

"Not off the top of my head, but if I remember anything, be sure I'll tell you."

Tim and Alex lugged the heavy box back to the store, where they went about figuring out how they were worn. They were both amazed at how heavy the box was, but once they took individual vests out, they realized that separately they weren't that heavy. Even so, they were still uncomfortable to wear, and when Alex stepped outside, he learned that they also got hot in a hurry. But, in the end, they decided they were less uncomfortable than getting shot.




Director of the Western Region Ives was amused. He knew that Claire would make a mess of things. He always tried for the big play, as these people called it, every time. Instead of using the tried and true method of slowly increasing the pressure, until you got the results you wanted. He hadn't learned anything from his mistakes of the past, while attacking the first churches in Jerusalem. Claire was the one that had insisted on swooping down on every church he could find, and grab or kill everyone. It never occurred to him to infiltrate the churches, gather information on its' members, and then quietly pick them up, or kill those who resisted. He'd made that same mistake ever since the first century, whenever they tried to stamp out the followers of the Nazarene, right up through modern times. When he was asked, he always advised the same heavy handed methods to the master’s servants in China, and South Africa. Everytime he did, many would escape, and start churches elsewhere. And they would spread like a disease. All of them, carrying the word of the hated Nazarene.

Now here he was trying to adopt Ives' methods, and was really clumsy at it. Since those who he had already sent out to infiltrate the remaining Christian resistors were either already known for what they were, or such poor liars, they were easily found out.

Ives on the other hand knew the value of the ones that were easily led astray. After all, wasn't it he that had convinced that character Judas to talk to the priests in Jerusalem? Then Claire had almost ruined everything by trying for the big play. Sure he got the Nazarene, but his followers had scattered that night. By the time they had all gathered in one place again, thousands had become followers. And now look how far things had progressed. There were more of them now, than ever.

Yes, Ives was amused at Claire's troubles. Even with two armies at his command, he was still struggling to pacify the southern region. Ives already had the entire west coast under his control, and the Chinese troops were well advanced into the foothills of the mountains to his west. A fact which had been aided by the lack of firearms in private hands. He smiled as he thought of what the master would do to Claire if only one more thing went wrong.




Director Claire was pacing. His staff knew this was never a good sign. Something was bothering him, and when that happened, his already short temper got shorter. Then people died. Claire stopped to look out the window. His infiltration plan wasn't working. People he sent out all seemed to simply vanish. No trace of them was found. He was growing angrier by the moment.

That is when he felt it. The building started to tremble. Then a real hard jolt hit, almost knocking him off his feet. An earthquake he knew, but this region hadn't had one of this size in a very long time. As he watched, buildings outside his window began to crumble and fall. They weren't built to take this kind of shaking. Even the one he was in began to crack, and debris fall from its' exterior. Then it came to him, it had to be the New Madrid fault. But if that were true, things were going to get much worse for him.

After a long time, the earth stopped moving. Claire picked up the phone. It was dead. He tried the cell phone. Nothing there either. He went into the outer office. Everyone was gone, having fled the building in case of a collapse. He turned to the radio, but there was nothing but static. He had no way to warn the invading forces of what was coming.

The destruction was beyond anything that anyone had ever seen or even heard of before. Millions lay dead in the streets and countryside. When the fault slipped, the resulting earthquake had caused the Great Lakes to start to drain into the Mississippi River. The invading Cuban and Mexican forces had been caught flat footed. Most of them were gone, washed out down the river. Because of their closeness to the rivers shoreline, vast numbers were washed away to the Gulf of Mexico, or drowned. Those lucky enough to avoid being swept away didn’t last long when the Americans that had been forced onto higher ground came to check on what happened. Claire sat in his office, or what was left of it, cursing and blaming the one he called the Nazarene for what had happened.



While Maria agreed the time for secrets was over, the time of caution wasn't. Todd had given her and John keys to his underground room. Now that everyone knew about it, she felt it wise to lock it up again after Tim and Alex had removed the vests and helmets. There was no point in leaving it open and chance one of the children getting into it. As the men took their box to the store, she returned to the doctor’s office to check on Bob and the girl.

She gently knocked at the door, and was rewarded by Kathy calling out, "Come on in, it's open.".

"How are our patients?"

Kathy's face took on a serious expression. "Bob is still out, but the wound isn't bleeding. If we keep it covered with antibacterial cream, and we can keep him from over doing it for awhile, I think he will be just fine. But I'm concerned about the girl."

"You still don't know her name?"

"She hasn't said a word. I know she can hear. I dropped a pan behind her, on purpose, and she jumped at the noise. I think she is traumatized by whatever those animals did to her."

"Think she'll recover?"

"It's hard to say. For some people, they do return to normal after awhile. Others never fully recover." Kathy smiled, "Enough of that, sit down and keep me company for awhile."

Bob was starting to come out of it. He wasn't sure he wanted to wake up. He was having such a wonderful dream. He was much younger, and sitting next to Nancy. She was stroking his hair, and told him the most wonderful thing he'd ever heard.

"Honey, I'm pregnant."

He couldn't wait to tell his co-workers in the next room. But wait a minute. He was at work when Nancy called him to give him the news. So, who was stroking his hair? Bob opened his eyes to see the girl sitting next to him, as she tried to silently show her concern for him. She glanced down and saw him looking at her. She smiled.

"Hello there. How are you doing?"

She shrugged.

"Still not speaking? What's your name?"

She looked upset now.

"Are you afraid those men might come back? They won't you know."

She still looked upset.

"It's alright sweetheart. Don't worry about it. You'll talk when you're good and ready. Don't let anyone push you into it."

A timid smile returned.

"Do you know where Kathy, the doctor, is at?"

She nodded, and started to get up.

"Wait a minute. I want to talk to her."

Bob rolled over, swung his feet around, and started to stand. He found out two important things. Whatever Kathy had used, wasn't completely done with him yet. He also found that the girl was stronger than she looked. For a moment, she was the only thing that kept him on his feet. He saw the look of concern come back to her face.

"Don't worry honey. It's just whatever the doctor gave me." He smiled at her.

Together they made their way down the hall to the reception room. Kathy and Maria were sitting with their backs to the door, so they didn't see them until Bob spoke.

"Kathy, just what did you give me?"

"BOB! What are you doing up? Let me help you."

"Thanks, but I already have a helper."

Kathy noticed her for the first time. "Well, let her help you sit down before you fall down."

"That sounds reasonable. Want to help me, Darling?" He said to the girl.

Maria had already gotten a chair ready, and with the girls help, he sat down.

"Okay, Kathy. Why did you do it? I told you to just put a bandage on me, and I'd be..."

"You'd be back here in a week or less with a major infection, most likely. I could actually see the shoulder blade, Bob. Sometimes you just have to understand you can't do it all."

"I already know that. For one thing, I can't dance."

"What?"

"It's true. I have absolutely no sense of rhythm."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. You said it yourself. I'M the medical expert here. I expect you to follow my medical orders. If you don't, how am I supposed to do anything for you or anyone else?"

Bob looked thoughtful for a moment, and then told her, "You're right Kathy. Okay, I promise, I'll be good. Just what are the doctor’s orders?"

"Lots of rest to start with. You can talk about what needs to be done, but for the next couple of weeks, you let other people do what needs to be done. AND for the next few days, at least, you check in with me so I can see how you are doing."

"Rest and checkups. Yes Ma'am. I'll do just as you say. So how long was I out?"

"About three hours."

"Anything new and interesting happen during that time?"

"I think I'll let Alex and Tim tell you about that. They know what they are up to better than I do. But for now, I want you at least sitting down for the next forty-five minutes. You need time for get over the shot."

"Can I ask for someone to send for Alex?"

"That, you can do."

 

[day late]

It didn't take Kathy long to convince Bob he needed to lay down for a little longer to allow the sedative a chance to wear off. Between barely being able to stand and with his back now only partially numb, resting for a little while longer sounded like a good idea. They helped him back down the hallway to the exam table he had been on before, after Kathy had quickly changed the sheet. Still, Kathy wasn't satisfied knowing Bob as she did.

"Maria. I hate to impose, but would you stay with Bob for awhile and keep him company? Otherwise, he is going to start walking around seeing what trouble he can get into."

Maria smiled. "Sure. I'd hate to have to drag him back inside after he falls flat on his face."

"Ladies, you do know I'm here, don't you?" Bob asked.

"Yes, we know. What we want you to know is that we know you, and sometimes you take on too much for yourself. Now, under these conditions I out rank you." Kathy answered. "You stay out of trouble for an hour or so Bob. I need to see what I can do for our young friend." With that Kathy nodded to both of them and left the room.

"I'm sorry to put you out like this Maria. You really don't have to stay. To tell the truth, a little shut eye sounds good right about now."

"I don't mind. Besides, it can't hurt to have someone keep an eye on you until you are yourself again. You go ahead and nap. Pretend I'm not here."

Bob was already starting to doze off, and didn't answer. With little else to do, she started looking over Bobs' weapons. Her late husband, John, had taught her quite a bit about firearms and she now put that knowledge to the test. Both the pistol he always carried, and the rifle he had spoken of earlier were old, but both weapons were in perfect working order. The pistol was a big heavy .44 Mag. revolver. She knew the type well. John had carried a .357 Mag. when at home, or kept it in his truck while on the road. While the cylinder would hold six rounds, Bob took the usual safety precaution of having the chamber under the hammer empty. The rifle was semi-auto. It was short, but had a powerful scope mounted on top, which told her the rifle would reach further that it appeared to. She looked at a round of ammo she had pulled out of the pocket of Bob's blood soaked and now useless jacket. Like the rifle and pistol, the round was small, but seemed to be heavier than it should. She knew the power of the weapons, so it didn't surprise her. She was just amazed that anyone would voluntarily carry the heavy pair.

"Don't drop that. I reload them, so it is a little hot."

Maria turned at Bob's voice.

"Hi there, I thought you were going to catch a few winks."

"I was trying. I just can't quite seem to do it. Maybe it's the company.” Smiling Bob said, “I mean that in a good way. Sit down, lets' talk awhile."

"Thank you. I was sure you did. This is quite some cannon you have here. Or maybe I should say cannons. How did you hold on to them when they started picking up all the guns?"

"It was a close thing." Bob admitted. "The truth is it all comes back to what I've said for years. Know Thy Enemy. If you know what he can and is likely to do under a given circumstance, then you can take counter measures. In this case, I knew that they knew I had weapons. So I turned in the ones they knew about. I hid the rest, along with the ammo for them."

"Stop right there. If you turned in the weapons they knew about, why did you hide the rest, and what made you believe that the government was going to take them?"

"Know Thy Enemy. Ultimately our enemy is Satan. He wants to set up the throne of the antichrist in Jerusalem. While the U.S. was able to come to the aid of Israel, he couldn't do that. So, naturally he had to take America out of the picture. Even during WW II the Japanese knew better than to try to invade America because of the number of privately owned firearms. It was Admiral Yamamoto who said that if Japan invaded America, they would find someone with a gun behind every blade of grass. Firearms represent power, and every dictator in history has always disarmed the people they controlled. Otherwise they wouldn't really have control. The antichrist will be no different in that respect. He cannot tolerate any threat to his power.

Now we narrow the focus a bit. If the American people had to be disarmed, how could they do that? How can they identify a gun owner? And what can I do to prevent them from taking my weapons?

Let’s start with the second question. How do they identify gun owners? Of course there were the registration lists. They got visits first. Then, anyone that had ever had a hunting license. Then there were also those who the government would identify at gun shows."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I guess living out here you might not have heard of it, but yes it's true. I don't know how long it was going on, but agents from our own government would sit in the parking lot at those shows taking pictures of people and car tags as the people would arrive or leave. In their minds, if you were at a gun show, you must have bought one or more of those unregistered weapons. But those weren't the only ways to find out. Credit card purchases were traced. Magazine subscriptions were another good indicator of a firearms owner. If you don't like guns, why do you have subscriptions for hunting magazines?"

"So how did you avoid all of that?"

"First of all, I paid cash for everything that was even slightly related to firearms. Any weapon I bought was advertised in the local 'Bargain Traders' type magazine, or the local newspaper. They came from private owners, so there was no obligation to register them. I learned as a young man just how far some people would go to get guns out of the hands of Joe and Jane Average. In one bill that was proposed to control cheap easily concealed handguns, back in the sixties, a description of what qualified as a 'Saturday Night Special' as they called them was part of it. That pistol you were looking at is a .44 Magnum. It weighs over six pounds when empty and has a seven and a half inch long barrel. Yet it qualified as a 'Special' under the provisions of that bill. I knew then if I wanted to own a firearm, it had to be unregistered. That was the only way to be sure I could keep them."

"Didn't they get your picture at the gun shows?" Maria asked.

"I didn't go to them. Now consider, if you know you are at risk of losing your weapons, what do you do? By turning in what I had, I knew they would come looking for more. But that bought me some time. So I had to think like they do. How would I find a hidden cache of weapons? Most people aren't going to put their weapons too far out of reach. If they bury them, it won't be too deep. It is too hard to get to them that way. So a metal detector would find them. How do you defeat that? There are ways to do it. For example, instead of making the weapon invisible by burying it, put it in a place where there is so much metal the detector is useless. A junk yard, a rail road line, any metal pipeline, and lots of other places have huge amounts of metal. Tuck a weapon away there, and it is no longer visible. Another option would be to camouflage them. A rifle has a long piece of metal in the barrel. If you put that rifle in a couple of plastic bags, and bury it right underneath any metal water or sewage pipes underground, they disappear. The same is true of culverts they put under a driveway. I don’t mean putting them in the culverts. Someone could find them just by looking. I mean bury them right next to the culvert, so a metal detector won’t be able to pick it up. That detector can't tell the difference between the barrel of a rifle, and the pipe very deeply underground, unless it is some of the much higher tech. gear. And I didn’t believe they would let the average guy use one of those in the field. Since that pipe is going to be very long, clearly it is too long to be a rifle, why dig it up? That is what the detector operator is thinking."

"And so that's what you did, right?"

"Only partially. I'm a great fan of the 'hide in plain sight' philosophy."

"'Hide in plain sight'? How do you do that?"

Gently, Bob rolled onto his uninjured side, and answered. "Again, Know Thy Enemy. Most people never learn to expect the unexpected. When I was still quite young, I read a comic book one time that had a fellow being a foster father to his nephews. One day, he brought home some donuts. Knowing that the boys would make short work of them, he hid them. Sure enough, while he was out, the boys came home and could smell the donuts. They tore the place apart looking for them. They never did find them. Why? Because their uncle had put the donuts on a curtain rod and hung it back in place. The boys never saw them.
I did something similar with some of my weapons. Now I admit I was lucky according to some people. I believe I was blessed. At any rate, a handgun duct taped to the internal portions of a stove can't be detected by a metal detector, and the people searching for my weapons were under a time limit. They had other places to check. While they did pull out the drawer under the oven and look inside, the oven itself is too heavy to be easily moved, so they didn't check places that were harder to reach. They weren’t going to remove the back plate on that stove and check inside.”

“Let's get back to being identified as a gun owner. You mentioned credit cards. What did you mean about that?" Maria asked.

"Just what I said. Credit card companies keep records of all purchases. That includes things like cleaning kits, ammunition, targets, everything. A simple search program for words like those will bring up the name and address of the person who bought those items and put them on their card. So I used cash only. Cash has the advantage of always being the right size, shape, and color. Nobody ever takes it from you and cuts it in half. Except for a very few places, it was accepted everywhere, and nobody ever asked a question. No one ever had to wait for it to clear the bank like a check. And everyone was always happy to accept it."

"Bob you almost sound like you are a very suspicious person. If it weren't for what has happened to this country, I'd have my doubts about you."

"So would I if there wasn't a reason for it. The Bible tells us that we are each given certain gifts. I think The Lord designed it that way to get us to work together, instead of each one for themselves. Two of my gifts are observation and discernment. When I saw the first signs that gun registration was coming, I knew confiscation wouldn't be far behind. That's why I never joined any groups that lobbied for gun owners in Washington. It's also why when they came looking for them, they didn't know what to look for. They never knew the number or types of weapons I had or didn't have. If you don't know what to look for, it makes it hard to know where to look."


Director Ives chuckled as he thought about how Claire must be doing at that very moment. Ives knew that after the southern invasion forces had been virtually wiped out, as the Great Lakes poured down the Mississippi River valley, the hated Christians that Claire had let slip through his fingers rejoiced and praised the Nazarene for their deliverance. The master was very unhappy about that. And he had very unpleasant ways of dealing with those who failed him.

What Claire had failed to do with his heavy handed tactics, Ives had been doing with his subtle lies and deceits. He left the large churches alone for the most part. Whereas Claire would try to destroy them, even by making false arrests in some cases. Most of them were so deceived that they posed no threat, and could be wiped out at a moment’s notice. It was the small churches and home prayer groups that Ives had concentrated on. They were the ones that knew what was happening. While Claire had reduced the numbers of that religion, in his failure, he had increased their faith. And that could not be tolerated.

Ives was getting a little concerned about the raids. They were making fewer of them all the time, and sometimes when they went in, there wasn't anyone there, even though they had seen people enter the building. But for now, it was going well.

 

[day late]

Bob was true to his word, and didn't try to go against Kathy's medical advice. Maria was happy about this, because it gave her a chance to know him better. As they talked, Kathy had re-entered the room. She was shaking her head as she came in.

"How's our new friend?" Bob asked.

"At least this time she smiled at me when I came into the room, instead of looking like she wanted to jump and run. That's an improvement, I guess." She shook her head again. "I can only guess what that poor child has been through judging by her injuries. It makes me realize just how lucky we've all been since this all started."

"Kathy, luck had nothing to do with it. We've been blessed. And I think we all need to make that young lady the subject of our prayers from now on."

"I know what you mean. And you're right. Still, when you think about everything that has happened to this country, our survival so far has been miraculous."

"But that's the point, Kathy. We have been saved by The Lord for this time. It's even more miraculous when you look at the entire picture. For example, you're a doctor. Did you get the advisories sent out by the Dept. of Homeland Security or the CDC about the swine flu a while back?"

"Yes, but they didn't say much. Their best advice was to avoid contact with infected people and to wear masks and gloves while in public."

"Did they mention what kind of makeup was involved with the virus?"

"I'm afraid I don't remember."

"The virus was constructed using genetic material from pigs, birds, and men. I said 'constructed' for a reason. Tell me something as a doctor. Is it possible to have genetic material from three so widely diverse species to combine naturally?"

Kathy got a serious look on her face.

"I'm a dentist, but if I remember my training correctly, no. It's not."

"Well. if that can't happen naturally, how could it happen?"

Kathy's look got even darker.

"Bob, are you saying that it was deliberate?"

"Yes, I am. You yourself, with your medical training, admit that wasn't possible in the natural world. That leaves only one option. It wasn't natural. That means it had to be constructed in a lab somewhere. I know that is really reaching in some people’s opinion. But what I tell you now is the absolute truth. I once was told that if I did a search on line for ‘Genetically Engineered Swine Influenza Virus and Uses Thereof’ I would find an application for the creation of the swine flu virus. I didn’t believe it. So I checked it myself. I found it."

"But it started in Mexico. Who would want to attack them?"

"Have you ever heard of asymmetrical warfare?"

"I can't say that I ever have. YOU are the expert in those kind of things."

"That is a disturbing thought. O.K. it works like this. If you had an enemy that had to be defeated, but you weren't strong enough to do it by yourself, how could you get it done?"

"I have no idea."

"You use surrogates to weaken your enemy before you actually attack them. In this case, I believe that the Mexican population was used to attack us in a way that wouldn't raise anybodies suspicions. The plan was simple enough. Infect people that are headed north, knowing that as soon as they cross the border they were going to scatter to the four winds. Which would spread the infection like wild fire. Also, once the people still in Mexico became scared enough, they rushed the boarder in order to escape from being infected or to seek medical help in some cases. Sad thing is that many of them already were infected unknowingly.

All of that served to weaken this country in a few different ways. Manpower used to try to round up the infected people before they could spread the disease was stretched to the breaking point. Not to mention how porous the boarder already was, even more men were needed to try to seal it. Medical facilities were over-whelmed. That, of course, made it almost impossible to take care of our own people. And the bleeding heart type of people in government kept insisting we had a responsibility to take care of the illegal immigrants. That drained the coffers of the government even further. That in turn made it difficult to buy everything we needed for many, many things. Like the military for example. As you know, a military has to be strong and well supplied to do its' job. Lack of money prevented that.

It all comes down to what is known as 'death by a thousand cuts'. Small injuries might go untreated and even ignored, but once you are bleeding from enough of them, death is certain. That is what happened to us."

"Bob, that's terrible. Didn't anyone realize what was going on?"

Bob smiled grimly and asked Kathy, "Did you? Most people never make a study of how to kill large numbers of people in a short period of time. It's not good bedtime reading for sure. But when you are a soldier, as I was, it is your job to understand these things. First, so you can do those things to other people, and secondly, at the same time keeping it from happening to you.

I'm certain that a lot of high ranking government officials knew about it. The ones who had already sold out to Satan, for their own personal gain knew, I'm quite sure. And I'm sure there were a number of people in places like the CDC and Homeland Security as well. Someone had to write those so-called informational releases. Someone or ones knew that you don't find three or more different types of genetic material in the same virus. But they kept that little piece of information from the general public. Tell me something Kathy. As a dentist, did you see a rise in the number of respiratory ailments?”
“Now that you mention it, there was a real upswing in colds, the flu and other things like that, the past several years. Why do you ask?”
“Did you ever notice what some people called ‘chem-trails’ in the sky?”
“Oh, you mean con-trails. Those trails left by planes as they fly over.”
“Actually I mean chem-trails. You see a contrail is made by condensation when the heat from the engine hits the cold air. Those dissipate within a short period of time. Chem-trails would go from horizon to horizon and instead of dissipating, they would spread out enough to cover a miles wide area going in both directions as far as the eye could see. Sometimes debris from those trails would make it to the ground. Samples were analyzed and found to contain a witch’s brew of differing substances. Many of them harmful to people. And they were capable of inflicting a number of different types of respiratory problems. But almost nobody stopped to look up. Not many thought to even question why those trails were appearing. Those who did were usually ridiculed into silence or simply dismissed as kooks.”

"Then we were betrayed!"

"Yes we were."

"You seem awfully calm about it." Maria said.

"I'm not really, but many of those people were in Washington when it was nuked. They are already paying a much higher price in Hell than they ever thought they would have to pay, or I could possibly inflict on them myself. Mainly, because they put their faith in the master deceiver instead of the Son of God. It's too late to worry about them, and the rest of them. Well, I'll never know who they were or are. So why burn up energy on something I can do nothing about?

Believe me. If I were to have each and every person responsible for this in front of me, I would personally send them to their just reward. But that isn't going to happen. I must content myself with the knowledge that The Lord knows what He is doing. I don't recall the exact verse, but scripture does teach that He knows how to preserve the wicked until the Day of Judgment. And for that reason, I actually feel a little bit sorry for them. I can't imagine what their punishment will be, but I do know it is going to last for a very long time."

"You're right, of course, but it makes me angry to know that all of this was done to us by our own people."

"Me too, Kathy. But they didn't act alone, and you can bet that Satan was pulling the strings all along. He wants every Christian dead, and according to The Book of Revelation, He is even angrier than we are. He knows His time is very limited and knows what waits for Him after this."

Bob smiled briefly and said, "You know, everyone always talks about how Satan will rule in Hell. I have to say that I don't agree with that. Hell was created as a place of punishment for Satan and His angels. I hardly think The Father would place Him in charge. I believe that once He gets there, He will have no power at all. His punishment, I think, is going to be unable to defend himself when everyone that He has tricked into going to Hell with Him comes to see Him there. Maybe I'm wrong, but I sure don't want to be there to find out."

Unnoticed by anyone, Sam had come into the office and had been listening.

"Mr. Bob. Why does the devil hate us so much?"

Turning his head to look at Sam, he answered.

"Sam, I think mostly for two reasons. First of all we know Satan hates God. But he can't do anything to God. So he attacks us because we are created in Gods' image. If he can't hurt God, then He wants to destroy the image of God. That's us. Secondly, as The Bible says, Satan said that he wanted to be God. Now that shows a whole lot of ego, if you ask me. Since Satan believes himself to be as good or even better than God, that ego can't stand the thought that everything He once had, we will inherit when we get to Heaven. That has to be eating Him alive, and it has been ever since He fell. That is why he hates us this much. But don't worry. We still have God on our side. And Satan still can't defeat Him."

"Bob, what happened when we went down into the valley?” Maria wanted to know. “I thought that with the dreams, and visitations you've been getting, God would have protected you."

"He did better than protect me. He blessed me. Twice."

"Bob, you got shot. How can you call that a blessing?"

"Do you remember the Battle of AI in Exodus?"

"Not really."

"This was just after Moses had died, and Joshua was put in charge. The Children of Israel had just come off of their victory at Jericho, and were feeling pretty sure of themselves. Then they came upon the town of AI. The spies told Joshua that there was no need to send the entire army up to this place, they could be taken care of with just a small force. Joshua said okay and off they went. To be blunt, they got their butts kicked. So, they came back asking Joshua what happened. Joshua asked The Lord, and was basically told, "Why didn't you ask Me for help and protection? You sent these men off to do the job, and left Me out entirely. Now, go back and do the job the right way, WITH Me’. They repented of the sin of pride, and did as God told them to do. This time they won."

"That's all very interesting, but what does it have to do with you?"

"I was guilty of the same sin of pride. I admit, just like everyone else, I got pumped up when those guys showed up. But when we went down to meet them. I forgot to pray. I left God out of it, and was counting on us to handle it. That was my mistake. And so, I got blessed twice. First, I'm still breathing. Second, as the scriptures say, those whom God loves, he chastises. Yeah, I got hit, but it is going to serve as a reminder for a very long time, not to do ANYTHING without The Lord."
As they had been talking, Alex returned to the office.
"Hey, Dad. How are you doing?" Alex called as he entered the doctor’s office.

"Hey Son. Looks like I'm on bed rest for a while, but otherwise, I'm fine. So. What's been going on while I've been out?"

"Um, I think I'll wait for Tim to get here."

"Oh? That much?"

"Sort of."

No sooner had Alex said that than Tim came through the door as well. Between them, they told Bob about the underground room Todd had, the list of names, and the fact that Maria and Michelle were both on it. They also told him of their plan to patrol further out from town, using the go-cart. As he listened, the expression on Bob's face grew ever more grave.

"I don't like this at all. This is very bad. Tim, did you find any car keys when you searched them?"

Tim thought for a moment and said, "No. I didn't see anything like that. Why?"

"You saw the way they were dressed. Those clothes may have been fashionable, but they weren't meant for wandering around in the countryside. The nearest town is what, seventy miles or so from here?" He looked at Maria.

"Seventy-three miles." She answered.

"Obviously they didn't walk that far. They had no food, no canteens, nothing but the girl, and their guns. I'm willing to bet that we will…" He could feel Kathy's stare at the back of his neck, and changed what he was going to say. "YOU will find some kind of vehicle within two miles of here. Chances are that the keys are still in the ignition." Bob thought for a moment and spoke again. "The patrolling idea is a good one, but it will have to wait for a bit. Alex, I want you and Tim to take your mothers' 4X4 and find that car. Let Tim drive."

 

[day late]

"Why not me?"

"Son you've been hunting with me for a long time. You know how to look for sign. Tim might miss it. I want you to concentrate on that and that only. You'll be looking for tire tracks leading off the road into some brush, or a gully. Once you find it, I want you to take that thing at least two hundred miles from here, and hide it again. Run the gas tank dry if you have to do it. DO NOT take anything you find inside from the vehicle. I don't want to give anyone any clues about what happened to those three. When you get out, wipe any fingerprints you've left off of the wheel, shifter, or whatever. You understand?"

"Yes Sir."

"Wait a minute Bob, how do you figure anyone is going to be looking for them? Seems to me that they were the sort nobody would miss."

"Before I answer that Tim, you have to answer something. Alex, do you remember what I told you about the rabbit?"

"Sure."

"Ask Tim."

"How does a rabbit survive?" Alex asked. "Considering that the creature has no real 'weapons' for attacking other animals, and it's only defenses are speed and camouflage, how does the individual rabbit stay alive?"

"I hadn't thought about it. I don't know. How does he stay alive?"

"He notices every change in his environment, by being constantly alert. Have you ever tried to sneak up one? You can't do it. The rabbit knows that the first time he misses one of those details he becomes a hot meal for something else. So what we have to do is become a rabbit. Right, Dad?"

"Just so. Speaking of noticing things, Alex since when have you started wearing body armor?"

"Didn't you know? This is this year’s new fashion statement."

"Well, I must say, I approve of it. You see Tim that is what I'm talking about. You don't have to worry about everything, just be aware of changes. Now to answer your question, those guys must have driven here, to arrive in such good condition, with no food or water. And why would they drive all the way out here? The answer is obviously Maria and Michelle. Their names are next on the list from what you tell me. That means that someone gave them their names and location. That information could only come from someone in the camps. THAT in turn, means they were sent here. We have to make it look like they either never got here, or they came and left again, after ‘taking care’ of Maria and Michelle. To throw people off the scent."

"Okay. I get it. But how do we do that, other than moving their car, or whatever?"

"To start with, do you have the list?"

Tim nodded and handed it to Bob.

Bob looked at it and almost absentmindedly he said, "Good, good. Does anyone have a number two pencil?"

Kathy handed one to him. Then Bob picked up another piece of paper, and made a few practice scribbles, trying to duplicate the ones on the list. Satisfied, he crossed out the names of Maria, Michelle, and a few of the others, then handed it back to Tim.

"When you park the car, leave this inside. Hopefully whoever finds it will believe that Maria and Michelle have already been dealt with and not come back here looking for them. What I'm more concerned about right now is if those guys were tagged with RFID."

"R.F.I.D.?" Tom asked.

"It stands for Radio Frequency IDentification. For the past few years, those tags have been put in just about everything. Clothing, tires, passports, even money. Some of them could only be read at close range, while others could be read by a satellite in orbit. We have to find a way to make sure that nobody ever uses those tags to track down our friends out there."

"How do we do that?" Questioned Maria.

"As far as I know, there are only two ways to do it. First is to microwave the tag, although that might be a little difficult in this situation. I saw an article one time that showed the eye of President Jefferson on a twenty dollar bill would explode and burn when you did that. The only other way I know of is to use a hammer on it. The problem there is you have to know the exact location of the tag. There are ways to mask them. Wrapping them in some kind of metal foil works. But I don't think anyone here wants to either strip the clothing off of dead men, for microwaving, or wrap them in tinfoil. So what do we do?"

"You need metal?" Michelle asked.

"Yes. The thing is you need enough mass to prevent any signal from reaching the tag."

Michelle looked at her mother. "What about that wagon at 'Dead Man’s' Curve'? Do you think that would work?"

"That's a good idea."

"Wagon? Dead Man’s Curve?" Bob asked.

Maria smiled, "I guess about half of the towns in the country have, or at least had, a 'Dead Man’s Curve'. It is always a dangerous curve that street racers couldn't resist trying to take at high speed. Often with tragic results. In this case the name is literal. Just north of here is a curve that if you lose it, the choice is slamming into the mountain, or going over the cliff. It’s three hundred feet to the bottom. About five years ago, a family in a station wagon went over the edge by accident. It was very sad, nobody lived. Anyway the wagon came to rest on its' side. If we were to put those three next to it, then roll the car over them, that should be enough to block any signal, shouldn't it?"

"I do believe so. Alright, it is kind of late today, so we have our plan for tomorrow. Alex and Tim ditch the car far away from here. While they do that, Sam, Tom, Maria and I will take my truck and dispose of those three, once and for all."

"You can't use the truck. There are a couple of places it won't fit in the canyon at the bottom of the curve. But I think the go cart would fit."

"Can't say I care for that. It's a two-seater. The idea of taking them one at a time into the canyon isn't very good."

"Bob, why does your go cart have a trailer hitch?"

"I had a little trailer I used to remove yard debris back home."

"Well, I have a trailer that I think would do for this job. John and I used it for the same purpose. We can put those guys on it and take them out to their final resting spot. You’ll probably have to make a couple of trips for everyone and everything, but it beats the one at a time thing."

"Works for me."

"What about me?" Michelle asked. "What am I doing while all of this is going on? I'm just as good as any of you men."

"You are going to stay here, and help Kathy keep an eye on the kids, and our new friend."

"Don't you think I can handle it?"

"I'm sure you can, but someone has to be here with Kathy, and you might be able to get our friend to say a few words. You're closer to her age than any other woman here. Stands to reason she'll be more comfortable with you than anyone else. Maybe you can get her to at least tell you her name."

"Barbara. My...name...is Barbara."

As one, they all turned and looked at the girl.

"And I want to thank you for rescuing me.”

 

[day late]

Alex had finally gotten his father to allow him to help getting Bob ready for bed the night after he had been hit. His mind was spinning with a combination of questions and instructions from Kathy on what he should and shouldn't do, as well as things he shouldn't allow his father to do. Once Bob and he had gotten the now slightly blood stained shirt off, he visually checked the bandage without removing it. He had been warned to expect some blood, but large amounts of it were to be reported to Kathy at once. He was happy to see that while there was some blood, it wasn't much. He decided not to bother her with the news.

"Are you sure you're O.K. Dad?"

"It hurts some, but I'm alright. Thanks for the help, Son."

"Do you want to go to bed, or are you going to sit up for a while?"

"I hadn't decided yet. Why? Is there something you want to talk about?"

"A couple of things. But if you want to rest, I can wait."

"It's O.K. I'm going to be awake for a bit anyway. At least until the throbbing eases off. What's on your mind?"

"With what happened today, I remembered you talking with Tim and Kathy on that day when we met in the woods. You were talking about 'bodies on the ground' and all that. What happened back home after I left to go back to school after Mom died?"

Bob looked at his son for several moments before answering. A flood of memories seemed to pass through his mind in a fraction of a second.

"Alex, if this was as early as this morning, I wouldn't have answered that question. But there is no doubt about it. You saved my bacon this morning. I was looking down the barrel of his pistol when your bullet hit him. You've earned the right to the unvarnished truth. But to tell it, I want to go back to just after the time you left to go back to school after we buried your mother.

As you know, shortly after you left, we had the earthquakes that destroyed most of the west coast. Then the hurricanes wiped out the southeastern part of the country. Food production was drastically cut, and our ability to refine oil was reduced by about half. The shortages of food and fuel led first to protests, and then riots. Martial law was declared, and the government said in order to keep us safe, everyone had to turn in their weapons. Well, with most of the military and National Guard overseas involved in wars, the law enforcement agencies where simply over-loaded and outnumbered. That is why, at first, martial law was only in the larger population centers. However the crooks and gang bangers had a virtually free reign. Even in small towns like ours, gunshots throughout the night became almost commonplace. In our hometown, the police started patrolling in groups of no less than three at a time.

More than that, after a dozen or so times when the police were called out about gunshots in the dark, only to find themselves the targets of sniper fire, they quit responding to any calls at night that were less than a pitched battle. The crooks had a field day. Without weapons in private hands, there was nothing to stop them.

One night, I'd say about six weeks or so after you left, I was sitting in the living room. I heard someone breaking into the bedroom your mother and I shared. First thing I did was to turn off the lights around me. That put me in the dark, but the night light in the hallway was still on. When he came out of the bedroom I warned him I was armed and told him if he left then, I'd let him live. Son, he stood there and laughed at me. He must have been watching me before that night because he said;

"Let me show you my gun old man."

He started to aim into the living room, I guess to try to either hit me or at least scare me into submission. So I shot him."

"What did the police say about that?"

"Nothing."

"What? Why didn't they? I mean owning a weapon was illegal by then."

"They didn't say anything because I didn't call them. I knew if I did, he'd still be dead, but I would go to jail for illegal possession of a firearm."

"Oh. What about him?"

"He didn't call them either."

"DAD! I mean, what did you do about the body?"

"Remember that mini industrial park near our house? I stuffed him into a couple giant sized garbage bags and dumped him over there."

"Didn't anyone notice anything?"

"If they did, nobody ever said anything. By that time we were hearing shots every night, so what's one more? By the time I got home again, it was about eleven. I cleaned up the blood, and patched the bullet hole in the wall with masking tape and painted over it. By the time the police showed up after the body was found the next day asking if I'd heard or seen anything, everything looked normal. I said I'd heard a shot close by, but since it was after curfew, I stayed inside."

"They didn't suspect you at all?"

"Son, I don't think they even cared. Lets' face it people don't just wake up one morning and decide to invade a home where they know someone is there. I'm sure he had a criminal record, and as far as the police were concerned it was one less bad guy to worry about. So write a report, file it and forget it. But he was only the first of four invaders that tried it. They all shared the same fate."

"But it sounds like you didn't even give them a chance."

"No more than the chance you gave that guy this morning. Son I was defending myself. I didn't go looking for trouble. It came looking for me. Just like this morning. We didn't want trouble. But those three were bound and determined to give us some. Do you feel justified in what you did?"

"Well, I'm not proud of it, but they didn't give me a choice."

"Exactly. I feel the same way. I wish it hadn't happened, but it did. I could only do what I did if I wanted to live. Now let me continue. What Tim, Kathy and I were talking about was a group of gang bangers that had left the larger cities and towns came to our town, they terrorized everyone. On the last day we spent there, they attacked Tim and Kathy's' place while they were still inside. I can only credit The Lord that they didn't come for our house first, but when they started to break down their front door, I intervened with a rifle. I put down several of them and they ran. Later they came back, and they were sent away with reduced numbers again. Then we ran for it. That's what we were talking about."

"I need to think about all of this some more. It just seems so wrong."

"I think both of us getting some rest is a good idea. And you're correct. It is wrong, but we didn't start it. And only God will be able to finish it. Try to get some sleep."

Bob turned down the oil lamp and laid down to try to find a comfortable position. He knew the pain was going to keep him awake. Still, he laid on his side and tried to rest. No matter how he tried to find a good position, as he would start to doze off, he would move and the pain in his back would bring him back from the edge. After what seemed hours, he heard Alex call to him softly.

"You still awake Dad?"

"Afraid so Son. How are you doing?"

The oil lamp was turned back up. Alex rolled onto his side and asked,

"Dad, how do you live with it? Every time I close my eyes, I see it all over again."

"I wish I could say to do this or that and it would go away, but I'd be lying. People find different ways. Some good, some not so good. Some people just try to bury it and pretend it never happened. But that doesn't work for me. Matter of fact, those who try doing that often wind up with mental problems from not dealing with it. Others will use something like drugs or alcohol to numb the pain. That has it's own problems. Others will do whatever it takes to keep it off their mind."

"So how did you handle it the first time it happened to you?"

"I handled it pretty poorly. I don't remember much of the first couple of years after I got out of the service. What I do remember is pretty blurry around the edges. For a couple of years, if I was conscious, I was drunk."

"You?"

"That's right. I'm only a man, Alex. Sometimes things can be hard to take."

"I never knew that. What changed?"

"I did. To be honest, it was The Lord who changed me. You see I had drifted quite aways from him during my time in the service. Then further away as I tried to escape from myself in a bottle. Then one day He made me realize some things. The Bible teaches in the Old Testament that God gave us the right to use deadly force to protect ourselves and our families. I've heard some people try to condemn me by telling me that I should be ashamed, because Jesus changed all of that. It got my attention, because I knew the scriptures pretty well, and I didn't remember them that way. Then it hit me like a brick one day. It was Jesus Himself who said that He didn't come to change the law, but to fulfill it. That would mean the God given right to self defense was still valid. Even more the people who said that He changed things didn't realize what they were saying. You see, if The Lord changed the law, then why did he always place importance on the Ten Commandments?
After all, they are the very first part of the law. If He changed it, then the Commandments no longer apply. Yet He seemed to think they did. So either the law was fulfilled and wasn't changed, or Jesus is a hypocritical liar. I can't believe that, so those people who think He did are just flat out wrong.

Does that make me happy about the things I did? No, it doesn't. But I know I am forgiven. And I know that even though I didn't want to do those things, even though I hated them, I didn't do anything that wasn't allowed and even mandated by the law given by The Father. Does that help you?"

"I don't know. I have to think about it. It's a lot to take in all at one time."

"Just do one more thing Son. Pray about it. Let God show you what He wants you to know."

"I will. Thanks Dad."

 

[day late]

Chapter Thirteen


Alex closed the door of the house that he and Bob shared in the town, on the morning after Barbara had been rescued. He started into the street, and at once stopped to see Maria walking towards him, shotgun slung on her shoulder, and pistol gently slapping her thigh as she approached. He grinned at her, raised his hands, and said,

"Don't shoot. I surrender."

"That's not funny Alex. Especially, since yesterday." She looked at the house. Nodding her head, she asked, "Is he up yet?"

"He's been up most of the night. His back is really hurting him, though he won't admit it. And I know there is a set of sheets in there that will never be used again."

"If he's bleeding that badly, why didn't you get Kathy?"

"It wasn't bad, but every time he would roll over or something he'd bleed a little. Besides, you know Dad. He wouldn't let me. 'There's no point in waking Kathy for something she can't do anything about. I'll be alright.' or something like it is what he kept saying."

"That sounds like him. Think its okay for me to go in?"

"Sure. He's trying to get dressed, but he has his pants on."

"Trying?"

"Like I said. His back is hurting. He's having a time with his shirt. And no, he wouldn't let me help."

"Thanks. Maybe I can get him to see reason."

"Good luck. I've got guard duty, otherwise I'd help you."

"That's alright. You go ahead."

Maria entered the room quietly and found Bob doing his best to find a way to put on a shirt that didn't involve moving his right arm and shoulder too much.

"Let me help you."

"What? Oh, Maria. I didn't hear you come in. It's alright, I can manage."

"It doesn't look like it from here. Come on, let me help." She moved closer to him.

"Really, I don't want to be a burden. I can still pull my own weight."

Instead of answering, Maria walked up to Bob, smiled at him, and with the middle finger of her right hand flicked him, as hard as she could, in the middle of the forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I thought it might help to get your brain started. Bob, do you know how important you are to everyone around here?"

"I don't like to think about that. After all, The Bible says;

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

My importance isn't up to me to decide."

Maria quickly reached over and thumped Bob in the forehead again. When he looked at her she said,

"It didn't work the first time. Bob, scripture also says,

Luk 14:8 When thou art bidden of any [man] to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

Luk 14:9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

Luk 14:10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

You're not the only one who knows The Bible. Now, like it or not, you go to the high room."

"Well, I don't know about that."

"BOB! Momma WILL spank. You know your place, it is time to accept it."

He grinned at her and said, "Yes Mother. Why did you come here this early anyway?"

"I thought that after stopping a bullet for me, buying you breakfast was the least I could do."

"Now, that I can accept.” He smiled at her. “If you'll help me with this shirt that is."

She smiled back at him. "That's an improvement."



Director Ives was starting to become concerned. Five of the groups of infiltrators that had been sent out, hadn't reported in on time. True, some of them weren't too good at reporting their progress, but they did report in sooner or later. Now, the members of at least two of those groups had been found dead. He was sure that at least one group had been killed in a drug deal gone bad. Another had been sent out one too many times, and was recognized. They called in as they were being chased through the streets. Ives had a great deal of pleasure sending in the Chinese forces on that one. The Chinese were such a good choice. There were no Christians among them, so they had no problem entering churches, and killing everyone inside. Well, almost everyone. After all, since the government of China established a one child per family policy, female children were often killed, and every trace of their birth was erased. That way the family could try again at getting a male child to carry on the family name. The obvious result was a shortage of women. That was one of the chief incentives to get the men here. An almost unlimited supply of women.

When they went into a church, they would pull out all of the young and attractive women. Once they were outside, the troops would open fire on all who remained. That is if they didn't just blow up the building, or set fire to it. The women then became almost willing sex slaves, knowing what their fate would be, should they resist.

Now he was wondering about the group he had sent into the mountains to the east. He knew these three were little more than thugs, but they had managed to eliminate a number of those people that others hadn’t been able to track down. He was just about to launch a satellite search for their car, when there was a knock at the door.

"Enter."

"Sir, we've found two of the missing teams."

"Are they alive?"

"I'm afraid only one man is Sir."

"What happened."

"One team was found still in their car. It had been raked with automatic weapons. All of them are dead. We think it was a case of mistaken identity, and they were shot by the Chinese. The other team seems to have run into a wall at high speed. The two in front were killed on impact. The one in the back seat is alive, but just barely. They don't expect him to make it."

"Can he speak?"

"He's out cold Sir. They might be able to rouse him, but it would almost certainly kill him."

"Wake him up. Find out what happened."

"Sir?"

"He's going to die anyway, from what you tell me. At least get whatever information from him that you can, before he does."

"Yes Sir."

The man left quickly. He knew better than to disobey any order the Director gave. For his part, Ives realized that first he was going to need a new group of infiltrators. New faces, and ones that hadn't been seen yet. And the strategy would have to be adapted. The old methods were starting to break down. As he contemplated what to do, the matter of Charlie, Jack and Johnnie completely slipped from his mind.

 

[day late]

It was after noon by the time Bob, Maria, Tom and Sam came bouncing back up the dirt trail from 'Dead Man’s' Curve' having finished with their unpleasant task. Tom and Sam were somewhat white faced from what they had, had to do. While they were also upset over the grisly task, Bob and Maria each managed to put on a brave face for the younger folks. Bob stopped the go cart near the shed where he kept the truck and 4X4. Tom and Sam climbed off of the trailer. Bob addressed them.

"Gentlemen, you did a fine job today, and I know it wasn't easy. But you both carried out your duties well."

"But I threw up." Tom said.

"Me, too." Sam added.

"I know. To tell you the truth, I nearly did myself. Even so, you did what had to be done, without a complaint. I'm proud of you both. Now why don't you go get cleaned up?"

"Who goes first?"

"That is up to you."

Tom looked at Sam and said, "Race you."

Tom started to run past Sam for the shower, only to be tripped by him, and Sam took off like a rabbit.

"No fair." Tom called out, and began to chase his brother.

Bob and Maria chuckled at the scene, and began to unload the shovels and other equipment from the trailer. Bob looked at Maria and told her,

"I'll take care of this. Why don't you go wash up as well?"

"What? You want Kathy to get mad at me? No way. I'll help out."

"Really, I can handle this. Kathy won't get mad about picking up some shovels and a come-a-long. I'll even use my left hand. You go ahead and wash up."

"What about you? Don't you need someone to get your back?"

Bob looked up at Maria, and saw a twinkle in her eye.

"Now, now, my Dear. We must set the example for the younger folks. Now you go ahead.'

"That's not exactly what I meant, but okay, I'll go."

She turned and started to leave. That's when Bob shocked himself, by reaching out and patting her on the backside. Maria turned again, and for a moment Bob thought he had overstepped the bounds. Instead, Maria smiled at him and then continued on her way.

Bob turned back to the job at hand, when he heard from behind him.

"Ahem."

Turning he saw Michelle standing there.

"Oh. Hi. I didn't see you."

"Obviously. Bob we need to talk."

"Michelle, are you upset with me over what happened just now?"

"What? No, not at all. Mom is old enough to know what she is doing, and I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. No, it is something else."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. What's the problem?"

"It's Barbara."

"Oh? What about her?"

"Well it's... I mean...Oh brother, this is hard."

"Michelle, if you have bad news, just spit it out. Like they say, a sharp knife cuts the quickest, and hurts the least."

"Bob, I don't know how to say this, so just let me get it out, before you say anything. I don't know everything those animals did to her, but one thing I know they did do was brainwash her. She is convinced that the leader of a group like this has first claim on all the women. So she is wondering when you are going to have her."

Bob's jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

"It's true. She was made to believe that a woman's only purpose is to sexually satisfy the men. She asked me if you were going to be as rough with her as those bastards were. She figures that you must have done it with all of us by now, and wanted to know what to expect. Bob, she's only fourteen, and terribly confused about everything after what they did to her."

"Did you straighten her out?"

"I tried, but I don't think she believed me. And it gets worse."

"How could it?"

Michelle sighed and continued. "On one hand she thinks it is your right. On the other, she WANTS to show you how much she appreciates being rescued in the only way she knows how. Bob, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know Michelle. I've never run into a situation like this before. I know what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to be any place where the two of us are alone together. Have you told anyone else about this?"

"I spoke with Kathy. Seemed like the thing to do."

"Absolutely. I'd like you to also tell your mother."

"I will. Oh yes, I almost forgot. Kathy said she wants you in the office, sitting down, with your shirt off by the time she gets there."

"If you see her, tell her I'm on my way."



Bob was waiting for Kathy, as he had been told. He was looking forward to speaking with her about Barbara when she arrived. So he was a bit taken back when Barbara walked into the room right behind her. Kathy was immediately all business.

"Alright Bob, before I look, did you do anything I told you not to do?"

"No. I was good. Even though, I wanted to do the worst of it, to spare Tom and Sam."

"I appreciate that, but even so, I'm glad you didn't do anything to make things worse for yourself." Kathy walked around behind Bob. She nodded in approval when she saw there wasn't any new blood soaking into the bandage.

"Bob, I'm going to remove this bandage, and it will probably hurt a little. Barbara. Would you go into the room across the hall and see if you can find any more of these large bandages."

She nodded, and left the room. Quickly and quietly Kathy asked Bob, "Did Michelle speak to you?"

"Yes. But I'm at a loss for what to do about it."

"Lets’ take it one thing at a time. Ready?"

Bob nodded. Kathy removed the bandage.

"KATHY! I thought you said a little pain. That hurt like fire."

"Sorry, but it couldn't be helped." She looked at the wound. "You have a little inflammation, that’s not unexpected considering. Other than that, it's not looking bad. I'm going to give your back a sponge bath, so you don't have to wash it when you clean up. Alright?"

"Sure. I was wondering if I should get someone to help me with that."

Barbara returned, as Kathy was cleaning off the sweat and dirt from Bob's back. She gave Kathy the bandage and waited for her to finish. Kathy worked quickly, and soon had Bob's back clean, and had a new layer of disinfectant applied to the wound. As she was putting the fresh bandage on, Maria entered the room, her hair still wet from her shower. She said cheerfully,

"Well Kathy how's my man?"

Startled, Kathy looked at Maria. She winked at Kathy.

"Oh, he's good. We just have to keep him out of trouble for awhile."

"Glad to hear it." Maria stepped up to Bob, kissed him firmly, and as she hugged him whispered into his ear, "I spoke with Mike. Just follow my lead."

"You got it." He whispered back.

"So can I have him back now? He needs a bath."

"He's all yours."

Maria gently grabbed his arm and said, "Come on Sweetheart. Lets' get you cleaned up."

Arm in arm they left the office. Once out of earshot Bob asked Maria,

"What was that all about?"

"I was buying you some breathing room. Mike told me about Barbara. She'll back off a little now that she thinks we are an item. But make no mistake Bob, this isn't over. That girl needs some time and serious help. You stay away from her for awhile."

"You'll get no argument from me." He looked pensive for a moment before continuing. "You know, I should have seen this coming. The Bible talks about the mental stress people will go through in these days. Hearts failing them for fear, and all that. How could I not see this happening?"

"Bob, nobody is an expert at everything. You've done wonders so far. Don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, when it comes to women, what man can really say what we're thinking?" She smiled at him.

"Well, that's true." They stopped outside the house Bob had claimed. "I think I better get clean. Thanks for your help back there."

"No problem. Besides, do you think I want to be out done by a teenage girl?"

"So are we an item?"

"What do you think?" With that, Maria turned and left Bob to his shower.

 

[day late]

Chapter Fourteen


It was late in the afternoon by the time Tim and Alex returned. To everyone’s surprise, they brought company with them. Fearing that there might be trouble, Bob approached the S.U.V. carefully, with his pistol loose in the holster. It was when Alex stepped out of it, with a smile on his face that Bob started to relax.

"Hey, Dad. Look what I found."

Bob stepped closer, and looked at the man and woman getting out of the back seat.

"JIM!" He shouted. "What in the world are you doing here? I thought you were married to the 'Molly B'."

"Hi Bob. I had to dump her." He grinned back at Bob as they shook hands. "Good thing too, my wife was getting suspicious. Bob, this is Sally."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."

"The pleasure is mine."

"Really Jim, what are you doing way out here?"

"Oh that is a story. Got some place to sit while we talk?"

Bob showed Jim and Sally to the refreshment bar in the store, where they sat and had something to eat, and a soda.

"So what's been happening?" Bob asked.

"Shortly after you guys made the crossing, the Mexicans and Cubans made it up to where we were. We were getting ready to leave ourselves, when Michael showed up and said we were to stay put for awhile. To make a long story short, you folks were the first in a long line of midnight crossings. The 'Molly B.' made so many trips, she got the reputation of being Claire’s personal midnight express."

"I hope that didn't cause problems."

"Oh no, not at all. Matter of fact, it helped us. You remember the patrol boat that wanted us to stop? Well, it got to the point that they would just wave as we went on by. Anyway this went on for awhile, but things did change. After the enemy forces got there, the river traffic all became either war supplies, or slaves."

"Slaves! Are you kidding?" Alex almost shouted.

"I wish I were, Alex. I managed to avoid that traffic, but ended up transporting munitions mostly. Now, Michael had told us before, that when the time came, we had to be ready to move, as in right now! One evening he showed up again, and said it was time to go. We loaded our car onto the 'Molly' and made our crossing. Once on the other side, Sally took the car ashore, and I took the 'Molly' back to about mid channel. I sent a distress call, and warned I was carrying munitions. Then I put a couple of flares into the hold and left in the lifeboat. Once I was back to shore, I turned the lifeboat around, and headed it back towards 'Molly'. She was already burning pretty good by then. I knew nobody was going to rush out to save anyone from a burning bomb. So nobody went looking for us when 'Molly' blew to bits."

Jim shook his head at the memory, and then continued. "So we drove straight west. Until two days ago. That's when the car broke down. We packed up what we could carry and kept moving. Last night Michael came back, and told us to get on a certain road, and no matter what, stay on that road. So we did. A little after noon, I heard a car coming, turned around, and there was this familiar looking 4X4 coming down the road, with a familiar face behind the wheel. Alex pulled over to pick us up, and here we are."

"Well we're certainly glad to have you. So what are you going to do now? The only river near here you can cross with a row boat."

"I was thinking about that. What do you folks do about worship services around here?"

"Mostly it's Bible study and prayer." Tim answered.

"Did I ever mention I'm an ordained minister?"

"No."

"We used to have revival meetings up and down the river in the spring and summer. Think there might be a place for us here?"

"I'm certain of it. In fact I was certain of it before you asked. Well, if you don't mind, there’s something I need to find out. Alex what happened with you and Tim?"

"Dad, you were right on. We found their car about three quarters of a mile down the road, in a gully. You wouldn't believe the things they had in there."

"Oh I think I can guess. Food, water, or something else to drink, maybe some maps, and loot from every place they had raided so far. Am I right?"

Alex looked disgusted as he said, "You missed just one thing. Dad they had pictures of what they did to Barbara. I've never been so sick to my stomach in my life. It's no wonder she didn't want to talk. Don't worry, I left them in the car, but I sure wanted to burn them, the car and everything. I still feel dirty."

"Is there something I haven't been told here?" Jim questioned them. Together Bob and Alex explained about the three men, and Barbara.

"That explains a lot. Bob there are some other things you need to know. Michael said that there are more people coming here. But we should be wary. Not all of them are going to be what they claim to be. Also we need to be even more careful about that, since the 'space brothers' have made contact, and Christianity has been outlawed."

"Say what? Being a Christian is illegal? When did that happen? And what was that about the 'space brothers'?"

"It's a little complicated, so bare with me. After they stopped dropping nuclear bombs, and the New Madrid quake caused the Great Lakes to wipe out most of the invading forces, these, well most people believe, aliens showed up. They claimed to have come to bring peace to the Earth. You see, they say they created us. Then after that, they had to leave for awhile. They haven't gotten around to explaining why they left just yet. Anyway, they said that the reason for so much trouble on the Earth is the Christian belief in the end times. So the only answer is, of course, to get rid of the Christians."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight. Christians are at fault for believing the Word of God, which told us about what is happening now, and told us two thousand years ago. So because we believe what God has said, long before our great grandparents were born, the events happening now are our fault? What kind of circular logic is that? Is anybody buying this load of bull?"

"I'm sorry to say, most people are buying it. Either that or they are so sick and tired of fighting they are willing to blame anyone for it all, just so long as it brings a stop to it. Right now there are three kinds of Christians out there. The ones that are too scared to do or said anything, the ones that are either running or hiding, and the ones that are dead. If someone either captures or kills a Christian, they get to keep any possessions that the Christians might have had. And the fact these aliens are the ones saying it lends some authority to it in the minds of any who don't really believe."

"So what do you believe?" Bob asked.

"I believe that all Satan has to do to keep us from going to Heaven is to get us to stop believing in Jesus Christ. To that end, he will use any deception he can. I think these 'brothers' are really fallen angels sent to deceive us. What do you believe?"

"I believe you are exactly right. I also believe we need to work on security."

"I thought you said we can't defend this place, Dad."

"I did, but that isn't the same thing as security. You see all security measures boil down to two types. The physical and the psychological. The physical is locks, bolts, and things that physically stop you from getting into something. The psychological stops you by making you think it is a bad idea. Say you have a field you want people to stay out of. You could try putting up 'no trespassing' signs, but that will only stop honest people. So you put up a sign warning of mines, and nobody in their right mind is going to wander out into that field to find out if the sign is telling the truth."

"So what are you thinking about doing?"

"A combination of the two. Who is the best artist we have around here, does anybody know?"

"To tell the truth, I used to do a little graphic art work on the side when Jim was slow, or away on the camp meetings." Sally said. "What do you need?"

"I need to get you and Kathy together. We need some large signs showing that biological hazard symbol they use in the medical field. And we need some simple black and white quarantine signs as well. Then we put them about a mile or so outside of town, and get some of us in fake uniforms to make it look real. Anyone comes along, we warn them of some terrible disease, and they leave, I hope."

"What about Christians that make it out this far? Won't we be scaring them off as well?" Sally wanted to know.

"I figure that any real Christians that come this far, are going to be lead here, as we were. They won't stop at a sign."

"And what about others?" Kathy asked.

"Those are the ones we've been warned to watch out for."



Sarah looked at Mikes' face, as he drove the horse drawn carriage they were riding in with Tommy and their two other children. Actually it wasn't a carriage. It was a two horse, two person buggy, with a small trailer attached to the rear, which was where the two younger children rode under a makeshift overhead shelter. Tommy was 'riding shotgun', with a real shotgun, on a seat that they had mounted just behind the seat that she and Mike sat in. She noticed that the wound on Mikes' face was almost completely healed now, but it would leave a noticeable scar. Her mind went back involuntarily to the night he had been hurt. The Lord had surely been looking out for them that terrible night.

Gang bangers that had first been driven out of the cities, and then, they felt, betrayed by their leader, Manuel. They had barely escaped their pursuers with their lives. Wandering through the countryside, they had stumbled upon the hunting cabin that the family had taken shelter in, what seemed like a life time ago. They broke in quietly, intending to steal what they could, and kill any who got in their way. There had been four of them. Mike let them get all the way inside the cabin, before he shot the first time. He killed the last one to come in, somewhat blocking the escape route of the other three. Tommy had fired next, and downed the second from the last. The remaining two went for Mike. Mike had worked the action on his shotgun quickly enough to get another intruder. It was the then the one closest to him that reached him. From there the fight was hand to hand. They were too closely locked in fighting for Tommy to get a shot without hitting his father.

The gang banger had pulled a long very sharp knife and slashed at Mikes' body, at the same time Mike tried to duck under the weapon, and had the side of his face lain open by the blade. He fell backwards to get away from him, and Tommy ended the fight with a final well placed shot.

Sarah decided that the scar was really a badge of honor for her husband. Proving to one and all just how much he loved his family, and how far he would go to take care of them.

They crossed another ridge, following the road the angel had told them to take, and found themselves looking at something none of them expected. Clearly posted on either side of the road were bright orange and black signs, with the words 'Bio-Hazard' clearly printed above a strange looking emblem. Below that was another sign that read 'Quarantine'. From a makeshift shelter on the side of the road, a man in uniform stood up, and walked towards them, holding up his hand for the family to stop.

"What do you think Dad? Do I shoot?"

"Lets' see what he has to say first Son."

The soldier, a Sergeant by the stripes on his sleeve, spoke to them.

"Afternoon. Where do you folks think you're headed?"

Mike spoke. "We heard there is a town up ahead where we might be able to find some shelter for awhile."

"Fella, you go down this road much further, and you ain't going to go anyplace else." He hooked a thumb at the sign. "That isn't hanging there for nothing, you know."

Sarah leaned closer to Mike. "Could we have taken a wrong turn?"

"There aren't any turns on this road. We were told to stay on it, no matter what."

"Told? Who told you to do a fool thing like that?" the Sergeant asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The Sergeant looked closely at them, and then said, "You're Christians, ain't you."

"What if we are?"

"Hey Mister, it doesn’t mean anything to me, except your stuff. You know the law. If I catch you or kill you, all your stuff is mine."

Mike slowly reached for his pistol. "You want to try it?"

"Who? Me? Do I strike you as a fool? There are more of you than there is of me, and I ain't even got a gun. Besides, I ain't got to try anything. My relief will be here in an hour or so, and I'll just borrow his bio-hazard suit, walk down there and take the stuff you ain't going to need anymore."

"Make sure you stay away from the shelter until we're gone, and we won't hurt you. Tommy, keep you gun on him."

"Yes Sir."

With that, Mike clucked at the horses and slapped the reigns. They began to move forward.

"Mike? Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

"Honey, I don't believe that the angel would send us to our deaths. We just have to trust The Lord."

"I hope you don't mind me saying I'm still scared."

Mike smiled at his wife. "So was Gideon. You're in good company."

Knowing that a good man with a shotgun could hit targets that most people would consider too far away, the Sergeant waited until the family was well out of range, then pulled a radio from his pocket.

"Dad. Are you there?"

"Here Alex. What is it?"

"Looks like we have some Christians coming in."

"You sure about that?"

"They said they were, and I gave them the whole nine yards, and they just went on ahead anyway."

"Yeah, sounds like it. Thanks for the heads up Son."

Bob called Maria to his side, and together they walked to the ridge-line. As they watched the buggy and trailer come towards them, Maria said to him,

"I hope this works out better than the first time we did this."

"Alex says they're Christians, and he is pretty sharp. I'd be willing to bet on it."

"Knowing him, and knowing you, I'm satisfied. But we'd better be careful anyway. You never know."

"Count on it."

Soon the buggy pulled up to them and stopped.

"Howdy." Bob called to them.

"Afternoon." Mike answered.

"Can we help you folks?"

"We're looking for shelter for awhile. Are you going to try to stop us from going into that town?"

"Shelter or refuge?"

Mikes' eyes narrowed at this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, shelter we can offer." He reached into his shirt, and pulled out a chain with a cross hanging from it. "But for refuge, you need to look to another source."

Seeing the cross, Sarah sighed, leaned over and rested her head on Mikes shoulder saying, "Mike. We made it."

"I think you're right." He answered.

 

[day late]

It took Director Ives longer than he liked or expected to finally come up with a new strategy. First he had to figure out why the old one was failing. After hearing what some of the surviving infiltrators had to say, it became clear. Now that the master had played the alien card, and that religion had been outlawed, those people were becoming far more cautious about whom they trusted. They knew, as he did, that the number of true believers, and those that might become such, was greatly reduced. A group of two or three people who suddenly showed up asking questions, no matter how innocent they sounded, simply weren't to be trusted. After all groups of people willing to risk almost certain death to find something to believe in, was a bit suspicious.

So the answer was simple. What he needed were individuals that already knew how to talk the talk, to fool those people into showing themselves. Of course it would require even more incentives to get such people to take the risk of contacting those whom the master hated so much. But incentives could always be found, and after the job was done, there wouldn't be any need to keep any promises he made anyway.

He called in his secretary to explain what he wanted.



It had been a couple of weeks since Jim and Sally had shown up, when Alex came to his father. Bob was being checked by Kathy for what he hoped was the last time, and he would finally be allowed to actually return to work. He found He missed being as physically active as he had been accustomed to being. Maria sat nearby waiting for Kathy to give her verdict.

"Uh, Dad? Can I talk to you?"

"Have I ever been able to stop you?"

"Do you want some privacy, Alex? I'm sure Kathy and I could leave for a few minutes."

"Um, no. I think maybe you should stay."

At this remark, Kathy looked up from her inspection of Bob. She caught Alex’s eye for a moment and gave her head a slight nod.

"What is it, Son?"

"Um....Well...Dang this is hard."

"Something wrong Alex?"

"Yes and no. Dad what do you think about Mike, I mean Michelle, not the new guy."

"She's a fine young woman, Son. Why? Is there a problem between you two?"

"Well, it's not exactly a problem."

"SON! Am I going to have to beat this out of you?"

"Okay!” Alex paused to take a deep breath and bravely went ahead. “She's pregnant, I'm the father, and we want to be married."

Together Bob and Maria responded with a loud, "WHAT!"

"It's true, ask Kathy."

"Kathy?" Maria asked.

"Yes. She is. She says he is, and about six to eight weeks I'd say." Trying to get Bob and Maria past the shock as quickly as possible.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You know about the confidence shared between a doctor and patient. She's a healthy normal adult woman. She has a right to privacy."

"But she's my daughter!"

"And that changes what, exactly?"

"Maria. Give it up now. Kathy takes this kind of thing seriously. You WILL lose." Bob tried to intervene.

"I'm not going to give it up. I should have been told."

"That was up to either Mike or Alex. And it seems to me that you just have been told. I have no right to tell anyone anything about the condition of my patients."

"What about family? I had a right to know."

"That is only if it was life threatening, and the patient couldn't express their wishes. Mike isn’t in a life threatening situation, and she made her wishes clear to me. So, you weren't told, until now."

"Bob! Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Yes, I'll say two things in fact." He turned to his son. "Congratulations Son. I'm sure you'll be happy together. Have you set a date?"

"We're thinking next Saturday."

"Do you mean you approve of this?" Maria was having a hard time believing her ears.

"Maria, these two may be our children, but they are also adults. They are under no obligation to tell us anything they don't want to tell us.” He sighed and continued. “The time went so fast. They were children, and now they’re not. They don't need our approval, and they certainly didn't ask for it. They've made a choice, and like it or not, we have to accept it."

Outnumbered and losing the argument, Maria had no choice but to accept the truth.

"I guess you're right. Its' not like we can un-do what's been done.” She fixed Alex with her eye. “Alex. You better take good care of my little girl, or you'll have to deal with me."

"Yes Ma'am, I will. Hey Dad, you said there were two things. What was the other?"

"You're right, I did." Turning to Maria, Bob said, "Well what do you think? Want to make it a double ceremony?"

Maria looked at Bob for a moment, and then turned to Kathy.

"Is he still using anything for pain?"

Kathy smiled, shook her head and said. "No, we stopped that, weeks ago. What he is saying comes from him, not medication."

Maria turned back to Bob. "Of course I'll marry you, you goof. I was beginning to think I would have to propose."

"You don't mind sharing the day with Alex and Michelle?"

"Not a bit." Looking up at Alex, she said. "What are you grinning about?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. Does this mean I'm marrying my sister?"



It was a couple of days later when Michelle caught up with Bob, in the underground room at Todd's' home.

"Bob? What are you doing down here? Planning on blowing up something?"

"Hi, Michelle.” He smiled at her. “Not really. At least I hope not. I was just looking around to see what Todd was up to. You never know, something he was doing down here just might prove to be useful."

"How so?"

"Oh explosives have many uses. They used to use them to create avalanches on ski slopes, so that it would be safe for skiers. You know, knock down the extra snow and ice, so that it doesn't turn loose at the wrong time and hurt people. That sort of thing."

"I see. Bob, can I ask you a couple of personal questions?"

"Certainly. That doesn't mean I'll answer, but you can ask."

"I think you will. When you found out, I mean about the baby I mean, why weren't you upset?"

"My Dear, that isn't entirely correct. I confess, I was disturbed by the fact that you and Alex had been doing what you shouldn't have been doing. At least, not before marriage. But the truth is that it was a little late to worry about it. Maybe you two shouldn't have done it, but you did. Now it is the two of you that will have to live with the results. I'll also say that given the fact we are in the end times, I question the wisdom of having a child, but again, it is too late to worry about that. You are going to have a child, and that is that. You and Alex clearly love each other, and a child, or children, is the usual result of such love. But I would have preferred it if you had waited."

"I'm glad you're not the kind to get all stuffy about it. And you're right, we should have waited. But at the time, we didn't have a preacher to marry us, and we do love each other. We just didn't know if there was a way we could have gotten married, and we didn't see a reason to wait, under the circumstances. We didn't plan on this, but we aren't upset that it happened. Would you tell me something else?"

"Go ahead. You’re on a roll."

She smiled at Bob and then asked, "Everybody calls me 'Mike' except you. For awhile, I thought you didn't like me or something. So, why don't you?"

Bob smiled. "I'll tell you a secret. I've always loved the name 'Michelle'. If Alex had been a girl, that was the name Nancy and I would have given her. So that’s it. If you find it offensive, I'll change, but I simply prefer 'Michelle' over the nick name of 'Mike'."

"No, I'm not offended, I was just wondering. One other thing, if you don't mind. Are you going to expect me to call you Dad, after we all get married?"

"That is up to you, Dear. I wouldn't expect you to do that just because I'm marrying your mother. You have a life time of memories with John. Memories of all kinds of things and places you two were together. I can't ask you to give that up for me."

Since Tim was obviously older than Alex, and other young men in the group, it was decided that to pull off the guard act successfully, he couldn't be a Sergeant, so he worn captains bars while he manned the checkpoint. As he watched yet another person approached the check point, he thought back on how far he had come since it had all started.

He and Kathy had a nice home, in a nice area of town. Their lives really had been the American ideal. Well to do, if not really rich. Four fine children, who were doing well in school, and the older boys looking forward to learning how to drive. They had been active in their church, the Boy Scouts, and various activities around their area. They felt so safe, so secure, that they didn't even own a gun. He shook his head when he realized that all of that, which seemed a life time ago, had in fact been less than a year ago. When they started out on the road, there had been seven of them. Now in this little out of the way town called Trinity, their group had grown to something like forty-five or fifty people.

He had changed. Back then, they didn't want their children anywhere near a firearm. Now here he was, impersonating a military officer at a check point, and Kathy had decided that it was time for the younger two of their children to start learning how to shoot, and hunt.

He put the thoughts aside, as this newcomer got closer to him.

"Good morning friend." the man called.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

"I certainly hope so, my good Captain. I've heard there is a place up ahead where people like myself might be welcome."

"People like you? What does that mean?"

"Oh, you know. Fellow travelers on this highway of life. People who don't believe these so-called 'space brothers' are quite what they claim to be? I'm Brother Winston, by the way."

"Well, 'Brother' do you have a problem reading? Danger and death are waiting down that road. Don't you see the sign?"

"I've heard that not everyone that comes this way is turned back. They continue on to the place I spoke of."

"It's not my job to stop anyone, just to warn them. You want to keep going, then go on. Just be aware nobody is going to try to recover your body."

"I'm a man of faith, Captain. I have no fear."

"Man of faith? Are you one of those Christians?"

Brother Winston didn't answer at first he only smiled broadly at Tim. Then he continued.

"Captain, you know as well as I do that anyone claiming to be one of them can be killed on sight. If I were one, do you believe me as foolish as to admit it?"

"Look, 'Brother', I couldn't care less what you may or may not believe. You want to go down this road, then go. At least you can't say you weren't warned."

"Thank you Captain. I shall continue my journey." With that 'Brother Winston' walked past Tim and continued his trek. While his 'Brother Winston' had his back to Tim, he signaled Alex in the snipers nest, some sixty yards away not to shoot. Shortly after that, he picked up the radio and called in.

"Base, this is the check point. Come in please."

"Base here, go ahead." Bob answered.

"You've got one coming in on foot."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. He's a strange one. I asked him point blank if he was a Christian, but he didn't give a straight answer. He just kind of danced around the question. All I got out of him was he's a 'fellow traveler'."

"Fellow traveler? Are you sure that is what He said?"

"Absolutely certain. He said he was a 'fellow traveler' on the highway of life. Why? Does it mean something?"

"It could. It could be just a poor choice of words. I'll check him out. Thanks. Base out."

Bob turned to Michelle, who was sitting at a desk.

"Who's up for escort duty?"

"Mr. Timmons."

"Find him please. Tell him to meet me at the observation point."

The observation point was a place on the town side of the ridge, where a person could stand upright, and see into the valley below, while most of their body would be hidden by the ridge. With tall brush growing up behind the person, it helped to hide even the head from the view of anyone coming into town. It was here that Mike Timmons caught up with Bob.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"There's one coming in on foot. From what I was told by Tim, it doesn't sound good. I want to check him out up here rather than in town."

"I agree. No point in letting him see anything until we're sure about him."

Brother Winston didn't see Bob and Mike, until he was almost on top of them. When he did, he stopped suddenly, and smiled at them.

"Good day, my friends. You startled me. I didn't see you there. Have I come to the right place?"

"I'd guess that would depend on what you are looking for." Answered Bob.

"True enough. You see, I'm a preacher, and I'm looking for a place of real believers. Fellow travelers, you might say." Winston smiled at him.

"There are believers here, that is for certain." Bob had crossed his arms over his chest, and smiled back at Winston. "And on behalf of them I bid you welcome." He then casually raised his right hand and waved at Winston, saying "Hi".

Winston saw the sign Bob made with his hand, and smiled. "It is good to see I'm among friends. Are there many of us here?"

"There are a few here. Would you like me to make the introductions?"

"Oh yes, please do."

"Very well, meet them in Hell." With that Bob drew his pistol and shot 'Brother Winston' in the chest.

Shocked Mike cried, "What are you doing?"

"He was the enemy."

"How could you know that? He seemed alright to me."

"Twice he called himself a 'fellow traveler'. That is a term occultists us to identify each other."

"That doesn't prove anything. It could just be a poor choice of words."

"That's true. I wouldn't be convinced by that alone either. You didn't see the sign I gave him did you?"

Mike shook his head.

"It was this." Bob held up his hand for Mike to see. The index finger and pinkie were pointing straight up, while the two middle fingers were crossed over the palm, along with the thumb. "This is a hand sign used by Satanists to identify one another. When I showed him that sign, he said he was glad to be amongst friends. Any Christian preacher worth his salt knows that sign is Satanic. He wouldn't be glad to see it."

"That's mighty thin, Bob."

"Is it? Let’s take a look shall we?"

Bob opened the coat that was on the dead man. In the inside pocket was a list of names. It was very similar to lists that had been found on other infiltrators that had been killed. Mike saw it, and knew Bob was right.

"So where did you learn about that sign?" He asked.

"A long, long time ago, while I was in the service, there was a coven of witches in my unit. They tried to get me to join them. When I refused, they didn't say anything to me, but for the next six months my life was a living hell. Everything that could go wrong, did. I made sure to remember everything I could about them, and their ways. I thought it might prove to be useful at some point. I guess I was right."

 

[day late]

"Good evening, Sally." Bob said as the door opened to him later that evening. "I understand that Jim wanted to talk with me."

"Good evening Bob. So he said. Please come in. You'll find him down the hall, second door on the left. Have you eaten? I can whip up something real quick if you haven't."

"No, thank you. I ate before I came."

As he walked down the hall, Jim stuck his head out of the door to see who his wife was talking with. Seeing Bob, he smiled and welcomed him into the room. After being seated, Bob asked,

"So what's this all about, Jim?"

"Bob, I have to ask you something about the people here." He paused as if it was difficult to continue. "What do you folks think about Israel?"

"The nation or the people? And in what way?"

"Both, I'm asking about where you think they fit in Bible prophecy, and the current state of affairs."

"I think The Bible is pretty clear on the subject. They are Gods' chosen people, and it is His chosen land."

Jim looked Bob in the eye. "Why?" Seeing Bobs' expression he continued. "Before I begin to take on the duties of pastor, I think it is a good idea to see if we are all on the same page or not."

"That makes sense. Well, let me start with Jerusalem. I've heard some people claim that, that city and the land of Israel in Old Testament are not the same ones referred to in prophecy. I have a problem with that. First of all is was The Father who said;

1Ki 11:36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

Now I don't believe, and I've found no place in scripture, where it says that God has changed His mind about that. Jerusalem is and always has been Gods' city. Another problem with that idea is that it wouldn't be the same place is when it was prophesied;

Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

As you know, every time the term 'in that day' is used, it means the day The Lord returns and sets things right. So even if they are right about Jerusalem not being what scripture says it is, they still have to explain away the Mount of Olives. Unless they want to move every rock and grain of sand to someplace else for The Lords return. Not to mention at the ascension, where the angels said;

Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Now some will grab hold of the 'in like manner' part and say that proves Jesus can return anywhere. But then you are back to where we started, in Zec 14:4 and the Mount of Olives. Lets' face it Jerusalem is Jerusalem, no matter how much anyone wants to change things.

Now on the matter of who is Israel as far as the people go, scripture covers that pretty well too. It is true that during the trial of Jesus before Pilate the crowd shouted;

Mat 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children.

To some people this means that the covenant God made with Abraham was broken. They back that up with the words of Jesus, when He said;

Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

However they forget a couple of things. First of all the covenant was made with Abraham and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. That means ALL TWELVE TRIBES. The ones that wanted the blood of Jesus were 'Jews'. They descended from the tribe of Judah only. So what happened to the promise made to the other eleven tribes? To say it is broken for all of the tribes because of the actions of one is to call God a liar. For that matter what happened to the other tribes? All scripture says is that they were captured and taken away. Everything else is speculation at best.

But even that doesn't really matter. As we know The Bible teaches that God is not a respecter of persons. It also teaches;

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.

Since we are sons and heirs through faith in Jesus, and His work on the cross, then genetics are completely out of the question. God doesn't care where we come from, only if we believe in Jesus.

As far as the current state of affairs is concerned, I believe America can be first found in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Gog is described as the Chief Prince on Mesheck and Tubal. Mesheck is the biblical name for Moscow. Gog, the Chief Prince on Mesheck, will team with a number of countries to attack Israel. Those countries are what today we know as the Islamic World and parts of Eastern Europe. Then Gog will be turned away from attacking Israel by God and sent north of Mesheck/Moscow to the land of unwalled villages. What is the target if Gog goes north? There's nothing north of Russia but snow and ice. Until you go over the pole, and there is Canada and America. Name one walled village in the North American continent. There isn't one that I know of.

I think there can be no doubt that America is what scripture calls 'Mystery Babylon' either. The Book of Revelation gives a good description of it. First we have;

Rev 17:1 ¶ And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

There isn't one thing on that list that America wasn't guilty of. As this says, we are, or were, a rich nation, and we do sit on many waters. Namely, two oceans and countless rivers. But that isn't enough. We also know that scripture says a little later.

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Why would sea captains 'stand afar off' and mourn the original Babylon, as I've heard some say? It was landlocked and too far inland to be seen from the ocean. Given the description of Babylon the Great and the things it is accused of, it would have to be America.

Some ask 'Why would God judge America? The real question is why wouldn't He. God has judged every nation throughout history. What makes us special? Especially given the amount of innocent blood we have poured out through abortion? The perversions we have not only allowed, but in some cases embraced, such as pornography, and drug abuse?"

Bob paused to shake his head. "Not judge us? This used to be a nation that called its self Christian. By taking that name, we put ourselves into Gods' family. And He says that judgment begins at His house. How could we even think we could escape judgment?”

Bob paused. Then said, “Does that about cover it?"

"I'd say it does." Jim answered. "Glad to hear we think the same."

 

[day late]

Chapter Fifteen


Maria woke with a start just as the first rays of predawn light began to lighten the landscape. There was someone in bed beside her. Slowly she started to reach for the pistol she kept under her pillow. As she touched the grip, she remembered. Of course there was someone beside her. She had gotten married yesterday. She turned her head, and found Bob lying on his left side, with his back to her. In the dim light she could make out the scar that ran across his right shoulder blade. Gently she traced the scar with her finger as she remembered how he had taken the hit. He had been getting her out of the line of fire. She knew he could have dodged the other way, and there was even better cover in that direction than the way he pushed her. He didn't have to do it. At the time they hadn't even known each other very long, but he chose to risk his life in order to protect her.

"Yeah, that's Dad." Alex had told her, while he was out after Kathy had stitched him up on that day. "He’s always thinking of the other person first. One of these days, that's going to catch up with him, if he isn't careful. Did you ever hear the whole story about the generator, the storm, and Tim and Kathy's' food?"

She shook her head.

"We still had power after the storm. A friend of Dads' didn't, so he loaned him the generator. Three days later we lost power. It seems that the power company was taking sections of the grid off line, one at a time and clearing the lines. Dad fought with Mom for about twenty-four hours about the generator. She wanted him to get it back right away. He said that his friend had small children and needed it more than we did. Anyway, as it worked out, the other guy was able to return the generator on the fourth day, and we had power. It was after that, that Tim and Kathy asked to borrow room in our freezer to save their food. But Dad wasn't about to break his word and take the generator back, even if we needed it."

Since that time, Maria had learned for herself, that Alex was right. That was Bob. She held up her left hand, and looked at her ring. It wasn't all that fancy, but to her it was priceless. Bob and Alex had locked themselves away for three days, not giving anyone a clue about what they were up to, in the underground room at Todd’s house. Then yesterday each of them presented their wives with a handmade wedding ring. The man was certainly full of surprises. That is when she heard him moan in the dark. Suddenly he sat bolt upright in bed, and was shaking.

"Bob, what's wrong?"

Startled by the sound of Maria's' voice, Bob jumped. Then he came to himself, smiled and said,

"Oh. Good morning, Sweetheart. I'm used to being alone. I almost forgot."

"I did the same. What's going on? You jumped up like you'd been shot."

His face changed into a grim look. "I have to talk to Jim." He started to get out of bed.

"Bob! It's only first light. The sun isn't even up yet. What is so important you have to kick him out of bed?"

He looked out the window and realized Maria was right. "Well, I guess it can wait until before church."

"Good. Now come back to bed and tell me what happened?"

"I had a dream. Trouble is coming, and it is coming here."

“What kind of trouble?"

"The kind of trouble that speaks Chinese."



The church was in fact a sort of community center that had been built by the people who used to live in the town. It had been used for everything from town dances, and get-togethers, to sheltering animals in extreme weather. As Jim finished the service for that morning, he closed his Bible and addressed the congregation.

"Brothers and Sisters, our friend and leader, Bob, has heard from The Lord. He has asked that you remain while he tells us what our Father has shown him. Brother Bob."

Bob took the stage, and looked at the expectant faces. Nobody had made a move to leave.

"Friends, I come to you with disturbing news. The Lord has shown me that trouble is on its' way to our town. That trouble comes in the form of the invading Chinese Army."

That caused a stir in the crowd. They waited to hear what he had to say next.

"I have been shown that we have been chosen to stand where we are and meet them. Meet them and defeat them."

"Brother Bob!" A call came from the crowd, followed by a man standing up to be seen. "There are only a little over fifty of us here. How are we supposed to stand against the Chinese Army? They don't take prisoners. If we stay here, we're going to die in very short order. Why would God lead us here, and then not protect us?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't recall your name."

"Foster. I’m James Foster."

"Mr. Foster, do you remember what happened when the Children of Israel first entered the Promised Land? I'll tell you. They were charged with the task of driving everyone out of the land that God had promised to Abraham. In every case, the battle and the victory belonged to The Lord."

"That's what I'm talking about. Why do we have to fight the Chinese?"

"As I said, the battle was The Lords'. But tell me Mr. Foster, who did the killing?"

"Well, the people did. Um...never-mind. I see your point. Sorry to interrupt."

"Not at all, Mr. Foster. It is a valid question. Brothers and Sisters, I'm not going to tell you this will be easy. I can't promise you that we will all survive. But this much I know. If I'm going to die, I would much rather die standing for The Lord, against any number of His enemies, even if I have to stand alone, than anything else"

Another voice from the back of the room called out.

"There can't be thirty of us to stand against them. How do you expect to win?"

"I count twenty seven of us who can fight. Not including women and small children. Even if I'm alone, with The Lord on my side, He and I outnumber them. I know this is something that each of us must think and pray about. That is all I ask you to do today. Go to your homes and pray about what God wants you to do. If you will fight, be back here at nine tomorrow morning"

From one side of the hall, came another voice.

"Mr. Bob, can I say something?"

"Certainly, Sam."

Sam climbed up on a chair, to be seen, and faced the group.

"Okay I admit it, I'm fifteen, but I've been here since the beginning. I don't know what anyone else is going to do, but as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Bob isn't going to be alone. I'll be with him." He turned to face Bob. "I guess that's all." he jumped down from the chair, and walked through the crowd and out the door.

"I think that is really the truth. That's all. Go home, and pray. Those who will stand for The Lord, be here tomorrow."




Later that evening, Alex stopped by to see his father.

"That was some speech this morning. Do you think anyone is going to join us?"

"Us? Are you sure you want to be there?"

"Dad, when I was a kid, you always said you would rather be at ground zero with The Lord, than any place else without Him. Have you changed your mind?"

"No."

"Neither have I. I'll be there."

"What about Michelle?"

"Dad! She's pregnant. You don't expect her to fight do you?"

"You misunderstand. I mean, what does she have to say about it?"

"Oh. She doesn't like the idea, but we both agree there really isn't any other choice."

Bob nodded. "Well, whatever happens, tomorrow is certain to be an interesting day."



Director Ives waited in his office for the report from the communications office to arrive. It was taking too long for Winston to report in. Unlike most of the other infiltrators that had been sent out, Winston was punctual about reporting in his whereabouts, and plans. When he was late reporting in, Ives had ordered his last report be brought to him. There was the expected knock at the door.

"Enter."

Ives assistant came in with papers in his hand. "I've got the report you asked for, Sir."

"So what can you tell me?"'

"It seems that Mr. Winston was following up on some of the missing infiltrators, based on intelligence that we've gotten. We sent three infiltrators into the mountains to the east northeast of Reno. A place called 'Trinity'." Unnoticed by the assistant, Ives winched at the word. "That town was evacuated before the invasion, but there were at least three people who were known to be there that didn't make it to the camp. Those three infiltrators went out there, looking for them. They went missing, but R.F.I.D. tracked their car some two hundred fifty some odd miles east of Trinity."

"STOP saying that word!"

"Sir? Which word?"

"The name of that town. I can't stand it."

"Yes Sir. I'm sorry I didn't know it bothered you."

"I hate anything associated with that Nazarene. Go on."

"Yes Sir. Mr. Winston went out there, planning on picking up the trail of the other three, and that is when we lost his R.F.I.D. tag. There’s one other thing, Sir. From reports of other people that have been to that area, there is a check point about a mile or so outside of Trin...er...that town, with Bio-Hazard warnings. It doesn't seem likely anyone would be going there."

"You think not? Do you think at all? Why would our Chinese allies waste a Bio-Weapon on a town that had already been evacuated? Why would the American military waste time and personnel guarding an empty town? I believe we have found one of those people’s outposts."

Ives paused to think for a moment.

"This is what I want you to do. Inform the Americans at the pass closest to that town, that we have intelligence the Chinese are going to make a major attack at this pass, one hundred and fifty miles to the south. They need to leave only a token force, and move everyone else south. Then contact our allies. Tell them they need to make an attack on the southern pass. If they break through, fine. If not, it is only a diversion from that attack on the northern pass, where I expect them to break through. Once that is done, they are to make directly for that town. They can have any women they find, but nothing male is to leave there alive. Understand?"

The assistant nodded.

"Then what are you waiting for? You have your orders, get to it. I expect the attack in two days."

As the assistant left, Ives poured over his map. How clever, he thought, for the Nazarene to hide people in a town with that kind of name. Well, Ives would show Him just how clever He was, by wiping them of the face of the map.

 

[day late]

It was a warm day for this late in the fall, and Captain Ferguson was stretched out on the ground trying to get a little rest, if not sleep, before it was necessary to get on the road again. The sun would be down in a couple of hours, and moving at night with the 'cats eyes' type of headlight was slow going at best. As he lay there, he thought back over the past.

He had been a good officer with the Special Forces over the years. The patrols he had led had always returned. Sometimes, with a couple of wounded men. Once in a while however, they had to bring back one or two of their own that had fallen during the fight. Still, his ability to take men out, command them effectively in the field, and bring them back again, had caused him to move up through the ranks. He had gotten noticed by higher command and was rewarded with promotion, more men, and more responsibility. He didn't regret it until the day about eight weeks ago when he had been ordered to report to his battalion headquarters. Ever since the arrival of those creatures being called the 'space brothers' he had been expecting this meeting. He felt he knew what would come next.

"At ease, Captain. Take a seat." The Colonel had said. "There are a few things we need to talk about."

Ferguson moved to the offered chair, and as he sat he could plainly see a thick manila folder with his name on it, on the desk in front of the Colonel.

"Captain, I've been going over your file. I must say, it is impressive. Take this operation you were on in Iraq. It says here that you led a couple of teams behind enemy lines, took out a communications center, and got out without a single man lost. Yet you were cited for 'Bravery Above and Beyond' and you were awarded the Purple Heart. How did that come about?"

"It’s as the report says, Sir. We got in okay and found only minimal resistance which was quickly overcome. We set charges and pulled out for the pickup point. After that I'm not certain how it happened, but it seems we were spotted on the way out. We arrived at the pickup point just before the choppers came in. I posted men on the most likely avenues of enemy approach and on our flanks. The birds came in and I got my men on them, all except the last two. They were watching our flanks when I called them in. One man made it to the chopper without a problem, but the other man got hit on his way in. It was the first shot of the entire operation. I ordered the first chopper into the air, and told the other pilot that if I went down he was to leave immediately."

"You ordered him to leave you behind?"

"Sir, I thought that if I went down, there was no point in risking the rest of my men over a couple of corpses. Which we would have been, if there had been more of the enemy. They were pretty upset over losing the communications center. As it was, I saw two men aiming at my downed man and fired on them. When I got to the down man, his wounds were minor and I helped him back to the Evac. Somewhere along the way I got a round through the leg. We got on board and got out of there."

"Captain, have you ever read the after action reports of the men with you that day?"

"No Sir."

"They tell a slightly different story. They say that it wasn't two men you shot. It was five."

"I only saw the two."

"Quiet, Captain. They go on to tell how you burned off at least three magazines, while under fire. Then you throw the injured man over your shoulder and RAN back to the Evac. All the time you were running through a hail of automatic weapons fire. It was only after you had thrown your man aboard and while you stood in the door, supplying suppressing fire on the way up that you got hit. Captain, you were mighty lucky that day."

"I prefer to think The Lord was watching over me."

The Colonels face suddenly changed as Captain Ferguson said those words.

"Yes, well that is one of the things we have to talk about. Captain surely you must know what the government has said about the 'space brothers'. They have presented concrete proof that they are the ones who originated the human race. How can you possibly cling to that false belief?"

"Because I don't believe these creatures are what they claim to be. There are a lot of questions about them that they haven't even tried to answer. And what they've shown us so far could have been tricked up in some movie studio."

"You're certainly a hard one to convince. What about the gestation tubes they have shown with people in them almost ready to come out? Then there were the ones that had been recently released that were in that accelerated school kind of thing they have on their ship?"

Captain Ferguson had smiled before answering. "That proves nothing, Sir. Except they know how to clone humans. We've known about that for some time now ourselves. I want to see they make a man just using dirt that they have made from nothing. THEN I'll believe."

"Don't you realize that you are putting your career at risk? And it is a very promising career from what I know about you and what I've read here."

"Sir, I'd be putting a lot more than that at risk if I believed these so called 'space brothers' are the ones who created us. So will anyone else who believes them without solid proof of what they say. I mentioned questions they don't answer before. Well, here's is my first one. If these creatures are so kind and loving that they simply had to come down here and save us from ourselves, why did they leave us alone in the first place? If they created us, they would have known about our true natures. They would have known, or should have known, that a need would arise for people of our profession. So, why did they leave in the first place and where is the proof of what they say?"

"What do you want? They're home address? They've shown us things that you can't deny."

"I don't deny they've shown us things. I deny what they have shown us, to date, is proof of anything. Those people in the tubes for example. If these guys are so advanced, and have been 'observing only' for whatever reason, for as long as they say they have been, the bodies in tubes could be clones of people that lived 1,000 years ago, but they would not be created beings in the Biblical sense."

The Colonel leaned back in his chair and breathed heavily. His displeasure was plain on his face. He took a full minute to regain himself before speaking again.

"Captain, what I am about to tell you, is not to leave this room. Breathe a word of it, and I'll have you so far under the stockade they won't need to pump in light. Lava is very bright as I understand." He paused a moment to let his words sink in. "Captain, the word from higher has it that sometime very soon, beliefs like yours will not be tolerated in the service. You better think about that as well."

"Sir, with all due respect, that is exactly what it comes down to. What do you believe? I know what I believe, and in whom I have placed my trust."

"TRUST! How can you trust something you can't even see?

Ferguson smiled. "Why not? You trust in things you can't see."

"Now you're getting ridiculous."

"Oh, no Sir. I'm quite serious and prepared to prove it. Shall I?"

The Colonel eyed Ferguson strangely and said, "Go on."

"Would you come to the window?" After the Colonel joined him, the Captain had continued. "Sir looking out here, would you show me the wind?"

"Are you kidding me? You can see it moving those trees and bushes."

"No Sir. What you have shown me is the effects of the wind. Please show me the wind."

"Wind is moving air, and air is invisible. What you ask is impossible."

"So, you can't see it, and yet you believe in it. You see the effects of the wind, you feel it on your face and in your hair, but you can't see it. Yet you still believe in it because of the things you CAN see. It is the same with my faith. The difference is that I see God’s hand in everything. You see coincidence, luck, or something like that. I don't believe in things like that."

"This is all well and good, right now, but soon it won't matter anymore. If you won't choose, the choice will be made for you."

"Sir are you asking me to choose between my faith and my loyalty to this nation?"

"No, Captain, I'm not. I AM advising you that the day is soon coming when you will have to make that choice."

"I've chosen. I would like to resign my commission." Ferguson said without a moment’s hesitation.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You're throwing away a career that could really take you places later. A lot of people have had their eye on you."

"I'm certain, Sir. I will trust in God."

"I thought it would be like that." The Colonel leaned forward and opened a drawer. Out of it he pulled the papers necessary. "These are ready. I want you to know something. You are the twelfth, and last man I've had to do this with. Here is a list of their names. I want you people off my base within two hours. If you can't carry it, it no longer belongs to you. THAT'S official.

Now, the unofficial. Captain, between what I've read in your record, and what I've learned by serving with you, I've come to respect you. I don't agree with you and think you might be unbalanced, but the truth is we need every man we can get on the lines. Should you and these men choose to be around the front, acting independently of course, I think that I just might look the wrong way at the right time, as long as things aren't too obvious."

Such a short time ago that was. He had made his choice, as did those who would join him after that. Ten men joined him, the other two choosing to try to reunite with their families. Two men had been lost, while covering the retreat of the rest of them, after engaging the Chinese one night. Now here they were in the middle of nowhere, waiting for nightfall to start out again. Ferguson heard the sound of boot steps coming towards him.

"Sir, it'll be dark in two hours. You asked me to wake you." Sgt. Busby spoke softly.

"Thank you, Sgt. I was getting up anyway."

"Sir, can I ask you a kind of personal question?"

"Normally I wouldn't answer that kind. But these times aren't normal. Ask away, but don't be offended if I don't answer."

"I won't, Sir. Besides, it is a Christian kind of question. You know I wasn't like this very long ago. Some things still confuse me."

"Then by all means, ask your questions."

"Well Sir, are you sure we're supposed to be doing this? I mean, we broke off in the middle of a fight, grabbed these trucks and pulled out. We know after we did, the Chinese broke through the lines, because we dropped a bunch of 4.2 inch mortar rounds on them. They seem to be coming this way, do you think it has gotten personal with them and they are chasing us? How do we know we are doing the right thing?"

"No Sergeant, first of all, I don't think they are chasing us. Not after the hurting we put on them. Those men are coming this way because they have been ordered to do so. Just like we have been ordered to meet up with those civilians and help them however we can. As far as doing the right thing goes, do you believe we are doing what The Lord wants us to do?"

Busby smiled at the question. "Sir, that's about the only thing I'm sure of at this point. That angel, Michael, didn't leave any room for doubt about following you and whatever you say. I just don't see the sense in it. Wouldn't it be better to stop them back in the Rockies?"

"Sergeant, I would think so as well. But we have been told to beat them to the town of Trinity, and help defend it. I know I wouldn't do it that way. Then again, I wouldn't want to go against a giant with nothing but a sling and a few stones. The Lord knows what he is doing. All we can do is trust and obey."

 

[day late]

The next morning, Bob and Alex were at the church early. They waited to see who would accept the task set before them by The Lord. Bob knew that in normal times, most people would simply let someone else do what needed to be done. But these weren't normal times.

The truth was everyone in town had already paid a high price to be at this place and time. All of them had been forced to give up their homes, most of their possessions, and in many cases, even members of their own families in one way or another. Some had been killed by one of the many enemies that had been faced up to this time. Some had died simply because they refused to leave their homes when the time came. Believing against all odds that something would happen to prevent a disruption of their lives, they died with that false hope. Some few had lost everyone and everything they had ever known. The question was how many would now step forward and face this challenge that they had no reason to believe they could possibly survive. Placing all their hope and faith in a word they heard had come from The Lord? How many would believe Bob had truly heard what he claimed? In the quiet of that morning, they waited.

Bob wasn't surprised when Tim, Kathy, Tom, and Sam came walking up shortly after they arrived.

"Good morning." Bob said to them. "Kathy? Why are you here? What happened to the younger children?"

"Hi Bob, Alex. The kids are home with Barbara. And you didn't think you were going to do this without me did you?"

"Kathy, we can't risk it. Look, I know that we will win in the end, but that doesn't mean people won't be injured, or possibly killed. What happens if you take a round or two? Who's going to patch you up?"

"Barbara has become quite a good nurse. She can handle most things."

"Maybe most things, but she doesn't have the training to handle drugs. We need your medical expertise, not your bravery."

Kathy looked at Bob like he had said something vile.

"Bob, I hate it when you do that. You don't leave a single excuse for me to use. It's not fair."

Bob smiled. "You have to remember Kathy. The guy who said life is fair was lying. Besides, for the most part, in the next day or two we're just going to be getting hot, sweaty, and dirty, getting things ready for the people that are coming."

"So, you have a plan."

"Yes. One provided by the Lord. That is why I know we'll win. But what the cost will be, I can't say. Go to your office, Kathy. Make things ready for the injured we all hope will never come."

"I will, but for right now, I'll stay with Tim and our boys."

"Suit yourself."

Before long, people started to gather. Bob was glad to see that most of the people he thought of as able to fight showed up. Men as well as some women were present. One of the last to show up, was the one that in his heart, he hoped wouldn't, but he knew better. Maria came walking down the street, pistol gently slapping against her thigh, and a rifle on her other shoulder.

Next to her was Michelle. He knew she wouldn't be taking part in the battle to come, and assumed that she was here to send off Alex. So he was a bit surprised when, after kissing her husband, she walked over to Kathy.

"I'm guessing that you aren't going to be in this. So, I'm reporting for duty as your assistant."

"Thank you, but I think Barbara and I can handle it."

"What if there are too many?"

Kathy shrugged, and said, "Well in that case, welcome aboard. You'll have to let me know what your qualifications are when we get to the office."

Bob was in for one more surprise when a girl he guessed at about ten or twelve came running up to him.

"Mr. Bob?"

He got down on one knee to look her in the eye. "Yes dear, what is it?"

"My Daddy said that Tommy and him will be with you too, but right now they have to be at the checkpoint." She looked at him with earnest blue eyes. "Mr. Bob? Are my Daddy and brother going to be alright?"

"We'll do everything we can to make sure that everybody is going to be alright."

Satisfied, the girl smiled at him, turned and ran back to her mother, and their new home.

Bob stood and addressed the group. "I see we have almost everyone here, so I'll begin. Ladies, Gentlemen, I've heard in the past that some people don't believe that God takes sides in modern warfare. I'm somewhat of a student of history. So I know this idea to be false. It was General Patton, in the Second World War who had to fight not only the German Army, but the weather as well, as he moved his men to aid American soldiers surrounded at the city of Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge. He had a prayer written for the occasion, it went like this;

'Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.'

Folks, I don't have to tell you that we aren't as numerous as Patton's army. But the God we serve is the same God that has granted victory after victory to those who acknowledge Him as Lord. So I ask you one and all to kneel with me now to present our prayer to The Lord God of Heaven."

As Bob knelt, they all did the same.

"Father, you know our situation, and our need. You have shown us that the enemy of all who believe in You and Your blessed Son, Jesus Christ, is even now on his way to destroy us. We have heard Your call to stand in the gap, and defend this place, putting our trust in You for the victory, even though, like Gideon we are greatly outnumbered. And so we ask that you strengthen, and protect us in the fight ahead. Let our God arise, and his enemies be scattered. And we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen"

A murmured 'Amen' went through the group. Then they stood and looked expectantly at Bob.

"Alright folks, I need three groups of people to start with. I need some people that have any knowledge at all about dealing with explosives. Even basic training with hand grenades will help. Second, I need some people who aren't afraid of either getting dirty, or of heights. Finally I need the rest of you to go through town, and find every piece of two strand electrical cord you can find."




The day after Director Ives gave the order, the majority of the American forces guarding the northern pass pulled out and headed south. Unexpectedly, they left much of their heavy weapons behind them. The general thought being two fold. First, moving them would mean they might not be able to get to the expected attack site quickly enough. Secondly, if the intelligence they had received was faulty, the weapons would be needed to defend the pass. Along with the weapons, the most experienced gunners were left behind as well. For the same reason.

This choice, proved to be what cost the Chinese heavily. When they moved up into the pass, high explosive shells rained down on them for hours. What had started out as four infantry companies with the support of a dozen tanks was reduced to slightly fewer than three companies in the exchange. Half of the tanks were left blown apart and smoking in the pass. They didn't take the pass, but they did manage to fight their way through it due to the reduced number of defenders.

They quickly moved ten miles from the pass, and then stopped to regroup. Two of the tanks were so badly damaged that, while they were still running, they were cannibalized to provide parts to repair the remaining four vehicles. They had just finished with the repairs, when the American infantry found them, and started using mortars on the troops. Instead of standing to fight, the Chinese chose to continue with their mission. By now, the troops had been further reduced to about two companies, and one more tank have been hit with a lucky shot from a mortar and sat burning where it had been hit.

By this time, night was beginning to fall. Once they were sure they had escaped the Americans, they set up a camp for the night, with guards posted all around. The officers were wondering what it could be in that small town in the middle of nowhere that was so important that casualties on this scale would be worth it all.



Maria walked into the room quietly the next day, and found Bob deeply in prayer. Not wanting to disturb him, she backed out and waited for him to finish. Shortly, Bob came out of the room he had been using, and found his wife.

"Hi Honey. What brings you here?"

"Lunch. You don't think I'd let any man of mine go hungry do you?"

"Thanks so much. I was getting hungry."

Maria couldn't help but notice that Bob still had a concerned look on his face.

"What's wrong Bob? You seem to be upset."

"I'm just trying to be sure I haven't missed anything."

"I guess I don't have to remind you, we do what is possible, and trust God for the impossible."

"I know, I just want to be sure I've done all I can."

"Just trust in Him, Bob. Trust in Him. As you've said yourself, He wouldn't lead us all the way out here, just to die."

"I know I just wish there were more of us."

The radio crackled to life.

"Base, this is check point. We have a problem."

"Base here." Bob answered. "What is it?"

"Looks like a convoy of three military trucks coming down the road."

"Stop them if you can, otherwise get out of their way. I'm coming now."

Putting down the radio, Bob stepped outside and found Tim nearby. He called him over.

"Grab the first six men you can find, and come with me. EVERYBODY carries a weapon."



Mike Timmons had spent his share of time at the check point, but nothing had prepared him for this. Nobody had ever shown up in any kind of motorized vehicle. Now here were three military trucks bearing down on him. He decided to stand at the side of the road, and try to flag them down. Much to his surprise, they ground to a stop in front of him. The driver of the lead truck leaned out the window, and without any pleasantries demanded.

"Where's Bob?"

"Excuse me? Who's Bob?"

"Look. Don't give me a problem. There isn't much time. Now where is he?"

"I really don't know what you mean."

"Alright, alright, we'll do this the official way. I need to speak with your C.O."

"I've called in your convoy. There is someone on the way."

"Good. Do you mind if we stretch our legs while we wait?"

"Go ahead."

The Captain called out to the men in the other trucks.

"Dismount. Take ten."

Mike counted eight men as they got out of the vehicles, and saw that these men were professionals, by their baring and manner. They got out of the trucks, but never got far from them. Every one of them carried a sidearm, and over half had rifles slung over their shoulders. Before long, one of the men said;

"Sir. Check the ridge."

The officer looked and saw six men with arms at the ready, but not aimed at them, and one more man coming towards them.

"Stand down Sergeant. They're just checking us out. We'd do the same. And I think that is our contact on the way down. Everyone stay loose."

When Bob reached the officer, he smiled and said,

"Glad to meet you Bob."

"Excuse me? If we've never met, how do you know me?"

"I tell you in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who lead you here has sent us to you."

"That's good to hear, Captain. You know that staying here could be hazardous to your health, don't you?"

"Yes Sir. We left the Chinese about thirty-six hours behind us, licking their wounds. That's why we're here."

Bob looked at the Captain.

"Son, I have to ask two questions. First, what is the name of the one who lead us here? Second, what is your name?"

"Michael led you here and us to you, and I'm Captain Ferguson."

"Well, Captain, what is it that you plan to do to help us?"

"Why don't you take a look back here?" Captain Ferguson hooked a thumb towards the back of the truck.

Once they had gotten to the back, Captain Ferguson stepped up on the back, and pulled away the canvas covering. Bob saw a literal truck load of explosives and weapons. Mortars, and their tubes, 'plastic' explosive known as C-4, with detonators and what he knew was called 'det-cord', rifles, machine guns, and ammo for both by the crate load.

"We have all three trucks packed with this. You think we might be able to change the minds of those Chinese?"

"How on earth did you lay your hands on all of this? I would think that your C.O. wouldn't want to turn loose of all of this to save a bunch of Christians, given the situation."

Ferguson got a grim look on his face. "Bob, we didn't exactly ask for it. For that matter, we aren't exactly 'on duty' if you get my drift."

"Sorry, but I don't."

"It is like this. Once being a Christian became a crime, these men and I were given a choice. Give up our faith in God and His Son, our Savior, or give up our positions in the Special Forces, and become civilians."

"That must have been a tough choice."

"Not really. When you boil it all down, it is a simple choice. Heaven or Hell, and you get to choose. So we made our choice." Ferguson looked Bob squarely in the eye.

"Truthfully, I'm no longer a Captain. These men no longer hold any rank what so ever. But we are all Christians, Special Forces, and loyal Americans. For the past month or so, we've been hanging around the edge of the fighting, lending a hand, here and there, whenever we felt we could make a difference. We may be persona non grata to most of the nation, but on the line, there have been more than a few people that were glad to see us, and happy to have our help. So, when Michael told us to come here, ready to do what we do, we knew where to get what was needed."

"Well, I'm not the rest of what is left of this nation, and as far as I'm concerned, you are a Captain, and your men still hold their ranks, whatever they may be. And I'm most grateful for whatever help you can provide, and your skills in the field. Welcome to our midst." Bob held out his hand. Instead of taking Bobs' hand, Captain Ferguson saluted.

Bob looked at him and asked, "Captain, you’re more of the expert in military matters, so why do are you deferring to me?"

"Sir. Michael made one thing very clear. There is one man who is in command here, and it isn't me." He held the salute.

Bob, remembering his military training, snapped to attention, and returned the salute.

"Sir. If I may ask, what is your battle plan?"

"Do you remember a bottle-neck you came through about two miles back?"

"Yes Sir."

"There is a steep cliff on one side, and a ridge line on the other. It is my intention to wait for the enemy to pass through that bottle-neck, and then bring down the cliff side down on top of them. After that, any survivors will be engaged by small arms fire from the ridge line."

"How are you going to bring the cliff face down on them?"

"Using the best that we have. Black powder charges placed in the cliff face. The major problem we have at the moment is setting them off at the same time. All we have are homemade fuses."

"I think we can help out with that, Sir." Ferguson turned and called to one of his men. "Busby. How many radio detonators do we have?"

"About twenty of them, Sir."

"Think that will do it?"

"I would think that, that will be more than enough."

"Sir? Have you considered flankers?"

"I figure it will more likely be scouts, rather than a platoon or something, in limited radio contact. They wouldn't want to give away their positions with a lot of chatter. What I have in mind is to let them pass, then take them out quietly from behind, once they report in the all clear."

Captain Ferguson looked at Bob, and without smiling, and in all seriousness said. "I'm glad I'm not the one coming after you. You'd make it mighty difficult."

"That's the idea."

 

[day late]

Chapter Sixteen


The Chinese commander wasn't happy. He had started out with over five hundred men, eight tanks, and thirty-five trucks. Now, after fighting his way through the pass, he was down to four tanks and only three of them really fully operational. Man power had been reduced by over fifty percent, only two hundred thirty men in condition to fight, and fifteen trucks. He wasn't allowed to swing south and help with the assault there. He had to take a nothing town in the middle of nowhere. Even the maps showed that the pavement ended at the town. There must be something very important there to warrant the lost of men and equipment. Whatever it was, he felt that he would be well compensated for his efforts, even if he had to compensate himself with whatever was in that town. He had wanted to have helicopters also, but had been over-ruled, when it was pointed out that he would be operating behind enemy lines, beyond the range of refueling and rearming them.

He looked through the binoculars again. The gap between the cliff, on the left, and the ridge to his right didn't look to imposing. Still, there was no point in taking chances. He might be a little behind the timetable, but resistance had been heavier than expected. He ordered a squad of men to each flank, to move ahead of the main body. He watched as the two squads moved further away, and climbed the respective slopes.

For both squads it was an easy climb since the ground rose gently on each side of the gap. Soon the men on the right side had gained the top of the ridge, and fanned out to cover a larger area. About the time their heads disappeared from view, the second squad reached its objective on the left flank, and did the same thing. He waited for several minutes, until the first squad reported in. They had found no sign of recent enemy activity, and all was clear, as far as they could see, which was a half mile, at least. He ordered them to hold their position, and wait for the second squad to report. Moments later, the second squad reported that they could see the first squad, and everything was just as they had said. All clear, as far as the eye could see.

The Commander ordered both squads to make their way down the slopes, and rejoin the main body as they came through the gap. Satisfied, he put down the microphone, and signaled the advance.

The two squads moved to comply with their orders. At a whispered signal from one of the radios Captain Ferguson had brought, men quietly popped up out of holes that had been dug and then hidden, they were called, 'spider holes' after the trap door spider which used that method of catching its' prey.

Bob had chosen these men very carefully. Ever since they had first arrived in the town, Bob had schooled everyone with the bow and arrow. As newcomers arrived, they too were taught how to use the ancient weapon. Most of them could now put a group of ten arrows in an area the size of a baseball at thirty yards. Now the best archers they had, including Kathy and Tim’s son Tom, were drawing a bead on the backs of the Chinese troops as they moved down the side of the slope. As one, the men on both sides of the valley released their arrows, aiming for the head and necks of their enemy. They shot the ones closest to them first, so any troops in front of them didn't know what was happening, until they too had died.

The Chinese force, assured that there was nothing to threaten them moved forward through the gap. At a point where the road came closest to the cliff face, explosions boomed overhead. The Commander had a chance to see the avalanche of stone coming towards him, before he died. In his last moments, he realized that the squads he'd sent to scout the hills were dead, and hoped that those men who survived this attack could make it to the ridge to his right, and possibly manage to fight their way back to friendly territory.

The slide that had been set off with the explosives did most of the work it was intended to do. The tanks, being slower than the trucks, never had a chance to escape. They were buried under tons of rock. Two of them were overturned, exposing their thinner undersides. Then boulders crashed into them crushing them like a soda can. In the third tank, instead of trying to run away, the tank commander turned his vehicle towards the cliff. He managed to reach an overhanging portion of the cliff, and took shelter there. The slide buried them as well. With all that debris on top of them, they were trapped, and would never escape. Although, it was reported later in the day that multiple pistol shots were heard coming from that area.

Two of the trucks managed to avoid the falling rocks, along with about fifty men. Once they had retreated from the danger area as far as they could, they hoped that the danger was over. They were wrong. In less than two minutes, mortar rounds began to drop from the sky among them. The barrage lasted for about twenty seconds, and when it ended, thick clouds of dust and smoke blanketed the area. It took almost fifteen minutes before the cloud had cleared enough for the people of Trinity to be able to see well enough to enter the area and make sure nothing remained alive.



After leaving Tom with his mother, and Alex with his wife, Bob took Sam, and they went back to the scene of the battle. Most of the townsfolk had already left, with arms full of weapons, ammunition, equipment, canteens, and other things that might prove useful in the future. Captain Ferguson still remained keeping a watchful eye out for any enemy soldiers that might not be as dead as they seemed. Even so, he had dismissed the other Special Forces men. There wasn’t a reason for them to hang around any longer

"Captain. How are things going?"

"Fair enough. Looks like we got them all. I am a bit concerned that we've blocked off the only route out of here."

"Not quite Captain. We've blocked the only paved route. There are four dirt roads, that don't show on maps, leading different directions out of town. My wife has a great deal of local knowledge and assures me that at least two of them meet up with paved roads about thirty or so miles east of here."

As the men spoke to each other, Sam started to wander around, not so much checking for bodies, but rather to see if there was anything he considered valuable. Shortly he was a good thirty yards from Bob and Captain Ferguson, when he noticed movement among the rocks. Just as he had been taught about hunting, he froze. A wounded Chinese soldier, who was behind the men, raised himself slightly, and crouching behind a small boulder, he slowly raised his pistol to aim and fire. It was the last thing he did. As he started to aim the weapon, an arrow thudded into the left side of his back, just at heart level. Bob and Captain Ferguson both jumped as the pistol went off, from an involuntary jerk of the trigger. The men pivoted and brought up their weapons, only to see the soldier collapse face down on the stone he had been behind, and Sam standing with his bow still raised, about twenty yards behind him.

"I thought he was going to shoot you." He said almost apologetically.

"I'm sure you are right." Bob answered.

Captain Ferguson walked over to Sam, reached out and shook his hand with a simple,
"Thank You."



Director Ives after being informed about the failure of the Chinese element, learned from satellite photos, was becoming angry. Taking heavy losses getting through the pass was unfortunate, but could be understood. But to have two companies of men wiped out by so few resistors, was unacceptable. As he stared at the photos, it became clear, another way would have to be found to get those people. The gap which the Chinese had entered was now nearly completely blocked. No vehicles would be going through it until after many days of clearing the debris. He would have loved to just use a nuclear weapon on them, but the master had forbidden that option. The plains to the east of them were not to be contaminated. He would need the food grown there for feeding those who supported him, after the new order was established.

Even worse, The Americans had beaten back the attack on the southern pass, and since then had re-enforced the northern one. That left only one option. An air strike was needed. Something to level the entire town, and anything else within the target area. The only problem with that idea was that he was unsure if the resistors might have gotten hold of anti-aircraft missiles. He couldn't be sure, unless, he sacrificed some lesser aircraft first, to get them to show their hand. However, with the losses the Chinese had been suffering of late, they weren't likely to be willing to give up any aircraft for the purpose. He considered sending an unmanned aircraft over the area, but they were in short supply, and needed on the active front lines.




That evening, Tim and Kathy held a special dinner in honor of their 'two heroes'. Bob, Maria, Alex and Michelle were also in attendance. The two young men were given the meal of their choice, out of the available stores. Everyone involved in the fight spoke highly of them, and told of the actions they had witnessed. While they had been separated by the respective flanks they were on during the engagement, both of them had been on the front line when the two scout squads of Chinese soldiers had been taken out. As supper was being finished, Captain Ferguson knocked on the door, and was asked to join the group.

"I'm here, to do something I don't usually do." He held two certificates, quickly drawn up by Sally, which he awarded to Tom and Sam, for 'Bravery in the Face of Enemy Action'. The two of them were at a loss for words, being the center of so much attention. They murmured their thanks for the awards, and soon excused themselves. Kathy made sure Barbara, who was now living with them, stayed to help cleaning up after the meal. Captain Ferguson signaled Bob, and pulled him to the side.

"Have you given anymore thought to what happens next?"

"Yes, and it's not good. First of all, there is no good reason for the Chinese to come here. This is a nothing town, in the middle of nowhere. There are no resources here that they would want, and this place has no strategic value. That means someone sent them. So the question is why would anyone send a force that size to a place like this? The only answer I can figure is the number of Christians here. That in turn means our enemy is someone in league with Satan, and in control of these armies. Looking at our situation, in the natural, we are toast if we stay here. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to pack it up and run. The sooner the better. But my spirit tells me to trust The Lord. The last thing I heard from Him, was to sit tight.

Again, looking at it from the natural, in order to prevent another attack, we would have to guard the next nearest place the enemy would have to pass through to get here. As you know, that means the gap on the other side of the plains outside of this valley. That gap is thirty miles from here. This would require us leaving our people thirty miles from help, or resupply. I can't do that. And even if we had a battalion of trained men, we couldn't hold those plains for very long. The only choice that leaves is to try to fort up here, and hold on until The Lord tells us something different.

My main concern right now is an attack from the air. We are out of range of artillery, and American forces are between us and the Chinese, so that means the next attack must come from the air. If it were helicopters, we might be able to knock them down with small arms like happened to the U.S. military in Somalia. So I imagine they will use fighters, or bombers. I don't think they'll use bombers, Trinity isn’t big enough to warrant the waste in war materials. I believe it will be fighters with missiles. And against that, I'm not sure what we can do."

"Do you have any electronics experts around here?"

"I'm not sure. Let’s find out."



Director Ives was becoming more and more frustrated. It was bad enough those people had defeated the Chinese forces sent against them, but it had been ever more difficult to convince the Chinese commander that an air strike was actually needed. After the Commander had ruled out using the unmanned vehicles, sighting his need for them to be used to overcome the American forces, He had spent four days convincing the Commander that he had to take out the town. To take revenge for his lost men, if nothing else. It didn't matter that the town had no real military value, revenge must be taken, or else the rest of the Americans might be encouraged to rise up and fight them in the rear areas. Then what would he do?

The man was becoming more cautious with each passing day. Even now he was only willing to assign five fighters to the strike. Ives knew that the Nazarene must be involved in this somehow. No mere man would have been able to figure out what he was up to, and be prepared for the actions he had taken so far. All right, this time he would be cautious. The planes would be ordered to come in low enough to evade radar. That way, even if those people had some way to plug into the American system, they would never see them coming. Ives smiled as he thought of how surprised those Nazarene followers would be, as they died.



"Bob. I'm glad I found you. I wanted to tell you that the transmitters and generators are in place, and operational. Our forward observers will be in position within the hour." Captain Ferguson reported.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. None too soon, if you ask me."

"Bob? Are you certain about the transport for those O.P.'s? I mean it seems to make more sense to use the trucks, instead of the go-cart and those chain-saw engine bicycles you have."

"It does make sense to use them." Bob insisted. "First of all, those things make smaller targets. With all the gulley’s and ravines out there, you can get those things out of sight pretty quickly. Those trucks can be seen quite a way off. And they can’t be hidden as quickly or easily. Also the bikes and cart are gas powered, the trucks are diesel. We don't have diesel, but we do have gas."

"Alright, it's your call. When do you expect the attack?"

"What time is it?"



It was twenty four hours after their conversation that the attack came. Four two man teams had been placed out on the plain, between fifteen and twenty miles from the town. When they heard the aircraft coming, they reported in.

"Here we go." Bob said, and warned the men on the transmitters to listen to the radios and be ready to fire. He thought back the conversation he and Captain Ferguson had with the only man in town with the needed electronic knowledge.

"Captain, Bob, what you are asking can be done, but you have to understand there are problems that have to be overcome. But as I said, yes, you can turn a microwave oven into a weapon. You see, that is the easy part. All that you do is open it, get the parts that actually create the microwave, and then direct that energy inward. Then change the direction the microwave energy, so that it travels towards whatever you want to shoot at. But here is where you start to run into problems. This weapon will be short-ranged. Two to three hundred yards is about the best I can promise you. Even then, you will have to keep the beam of energy on your target for a few seconds. If you are talking about planes and missiles, that is going to be tricky to say the least.
However that’s not the worst of it. Your major problem is going to be the hazard it creates for whoever shoots the thing. After all, this is a microwave. It cooks things. Without proper shielding, well, lets' just say that it would be a good idea for your gunners to be older family men. That way, if anything goes wrong, at least they already have their family. You can without a doubt sterilize a man by accident with one of these things. Not a good choice for a young man."

"George, we have full confidence in you. Just do the best you can, and trust God for the rest." Bob had told him.

Now they were going to find out just how good George really was. The plan was simple enough. Men at Observation Points placed in the plains had announced the jets were on their way in. Now, when they heard one of them launch a missile, they would report it in. Failing that ten seconds after the jets passed overhead, the microwave transmitters would be turned on. They were placed so that their fields of fire would overlap in depth. That way, as the missiles came in they would be hit by more than one beam of energy, by flying through them one at a time. That should fry the electronics inside the missile. At the prearranged signal, all of the weapons were turned on.

The Chinese pilots fired at a distance of ten miles. The missiles came in low, just above the ridge line. Tim radioed Bob.

"Bob! I don't think it worked. Most of the missiles just flew right over us. We only knocked down one of them."

"Keep firing towards the enemy. One salvo isn't going to wipe out this town, and they know it. They'll fire again."

As Bob finished speaking, there was an explosion on the far side of the ridge. As one missile, fell short. He looked up and watched three more of them pass harmlessly overhead. The missiles were blinded by the beams, and continued to fly straight ahead, instead of to their intended targets.

"Bob! The next wave is inbound. We got three this time. One of them took off like a moon shot."

"We're waiting. Engage the planes as they come over."

Again, a missile fell short, and hit the other side of the ridge The last missile cleared the ridge and suddenly turned right and continued its' flight out into the plains to the east.

For their part, the pilots failed to understand why they had lost the video feed from the missiles. They flew in low, as ordered, and into the microwave beams. Suddenly all of their systems went out. As they tried to regain control of their aircraft, they flew into the ground, exploding in huge fireballs.

"Gunners, cease fire." Bob shouted into the radio. "O.P.s' report any sign of further activity." He didn't wait for them to answer.

"Bob. It looks like we did it." Captain Ferguson smiled at him.

"Thank The Lord, Captain. Thank The Lord."

 

[day late]

Sergeant Gary Busby was standing on the street corner, in civilian clothes. Things were different tonight. Not that being different was anything new to Busby. He had been different all of his life. He had always been taller and more mature looking than any of his peers, and had started working out at the school gym at a young age, which only added to the difference between him and others his age.

He didn't mind though. Working out got him away from the house for extended periods of time, which was what he wanted. Ever since he could remember, his parents were either stoned, getting ready to get stoned, or fighting over who had used the last of the drugs they had, and who should go out and buy some more.

He had always felt that there had to be more to life than that. So when he had just turned seventeen, he left home one day, with the excuse of spending the weekend with a friend, and gone down to the Army recruitment center and signed up. It wasn't hard to convince the recruiter that he had been an orphan. And with his size and build, plus the fact the enlistments had been dropping off for years now due to the war, they didn't press to hard for answers, nor check his story too closely. Before the weekend was over, he was already in basic training. He knew his parents wouldn't think to look for him in the service. They both hated it, and tried to convince their son to do the same.

It didn't take long for him to realize that he was once again different. He actually liked the structured lifestyle. It gave him a sense of stability he had never known before, and a sense of belonging. He excelled at being a soldier. When the chance to join the Special Forces came up, he jumped at it.

There too, he excelled. He and the Special Forces were made for each other. With his upbringing, he had never been a religious man. He hadn't ever even prayed that he could remember, until the terrible and yet wonderful day in Iraq.

His team had been sent on a mission. They had simple orders. Provide cover for a mixed U.S. and Iraqi army advance. It seemed everything went bad all at once. They had been moving forward, towards a row of buildings, from which they could cover the advance. The only way to reach them was to cross open ground, with a few isolated building here and there, between the drop off point, and the objective.

That is when the insurgents opened fire on them. Busby found the only piece of cover he could, a shallow depression in the ground. He was returning fire, even as he hit the dirt. By the time he could look around, he found himself alone. Nobody from his team could be seen from his position. There was nothing but a small building to his left, and a row of buildings to his front, that were erupting with gunfire directed at him. But the Iraqis' knew exactly where he was, and were doing their best to kill him.

Busby didn't know how long the fight had been going on, when his weapon ran empty, yet again. He reached for the pouch on his belt for another magazine, only to find it empty. He reached for the pouch on the other side, with the same result. But it wasn't over yet. From long habit, he carried even more magazines in his pants pockets. The problem was reaching the magazines, since he was laying on them. He rolled over onto his back and struggled to pull the next one out. That was when the mortar round hit. It buried itself in the ground between his knees. For a man in a fire-fight, he stared at it for a long time. For all of ten seconds. For the first time in his life, he found himself thanking the God he had never even spoken to before in his life. Dirt kicking up from the ground brought him back to the fight. The magazine came free from his pocket he shoved it in the rifle, and began to fire again. Of the five enemy soldiers running at him, he shot two. Then his over-heated rifle jammed.

As Busby looked up, and it seemed the earth itself raised up to fight them for him. Geysers of dirt spouted up between the men and Busby, and they were suddenly cut down. Rolling over onto his back again, he saw the helicopter. Bolts of flame shooting out of the front, and then streaks of fire erupted from under the stubby wings on each side of the chopper. Rockets raced past him and blasted the buildings the enemy fire had been coming from. Then just as suddenly as the chaos had started, it stopped. Busby lay there, and tried to stop shaking.

He felt hands roughly grabbing him from behind, as he heard his name called.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" He asked.

"We had to clear that building, before we could do anything. Man that was some kind of fight you just put up."

It wasn’t until later he learned that his team had walked up on top of several squads of enemy soldiers, who were planning a major ambush for the mixed military advance. That had been the terrible part. The wonderful part came later that night. Busby talked with the Chaplin, telling him everything that happened.

"Son, if you ask me, The Lord has plans for you. I don't remember seeing you at church. Do you know The Lord?"

"Can't say I do Chaplin. I've been busy learning other things."

"Take this." the Chaplin handed him a Bible. "Get to know Him. I'll be here if you have any questions."

Busby read The Bible. It turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to him. He and the Chaplin had many conversations. Eventually, he gave himself to Jesus. He never regretted the choice. Now here he was, standing in the street, in civilian clothes, feeling different once again. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Captain Ferguson just a short time ago.


"What's the matter, Busby? Thinking of leaving the team?"

"Oh, No Sir. It's just that, well these are the end times. And I got to thinking of the things I've never had. Like a wife. I think it might be nice to have a wife. And, well, with the latest group of people to come here, eligible women actually outnumber men. Sounds like good odds to me."

"Busby if you think there's a woman out there that can put up with you, then I say go for it. Just remember one thing. In uniform, or out, you are still a member of this team."

"Don't worry Sir. That won't change."

Now that he was on the street, he found that he actually didn't know what to say to a woman. Opportunities to mix with the fairer sex had been rather limited in his life. He stood there thinking about it, when a man walked up to him and began to speak.

"Friend, you look like a man with a lot on his mind."

"You could say that. Do I know you?"

"McPherson is the name. Glenn McPherson. Good to meet you, Mr.?"

"Busby."

"Mr. Busby. Tell me Mr. Busby, are you happy with the way things are going around here?"

"Oh, it's O.K. I mean it could be a lot worse."

"Don't you think it could be a lot better?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, wouldn't it be nice to have some lights at night? Why don't they bring those generators into town? I mean we haven't seen so much as a glider since the day of the rocket attack. Why can't they bring them back here so we can use them?"

"I'd guess that it's a better idea to keep them out on the ridge where they are going to be needed."

"We could get them out there if we had to, and still have lights at night."

Busby knew it was useless to try to tell a civilian about military necessities. So he kept silent.

"Ah. Your silence tells me you can't argue with what I'm saying. And can you tell me why that Bob guy and his friends have the choice pick of all the places in town? What makes them so special? Mr. Busby, who is it that made this Bob guy the leader? Can you answer that?"

"He's always been in charge."

"Yeah, but did you vote for him to be the boss around here? I sure didn't. And what has his leadership gotten us? We've been attacked by the Chinese twice now. Why would they be coming here I ask you. I've never done anything to them. There can't be anything around here that they really want, so why are they attacking here? I know I haven’t done anything to make the Chinese made at me. I’m sure you haven’t either. It has to be him. Even if he isn't the reason, why do we have to stay here? There's nothing around here to do, and good old Bob doesn't seem to be wanting to do anything about it."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm thinking maybe it is time for someone else to be in charge around here."

"And who would want the job? I can't believe there are too many people that would want the hassle."

McPherson smiled at Busby like he wouldn't have to look too far to find someone new for the top spot.

"Lets' just say that I think a vote on the matter is the best idea. After all, this is America. That's the way we do things."

"Maybe there is something to what you say. I'd have to think about it."

"Why don't you do that Mr. Busby? But don't think too long. There are others who think like I do, and things could change real fast."

Busby did think about it. It was true that nobody had cast a ballot to put Bob in charge. He just was in charge. Captain Ferguson always treated him like he was of a higher rank, and the Captain was a man Busby respected. The two of them had saved each other’s lives, as well as the other team members, countless times. And there was the fact that Bob was the one that got dreams and visitations from angels. No, nobody had voted for Bob. He was simply appointed to the job by the One that Busby had surrendered his life to back in the desert sand. That was enough for him.

Busby walked into the room where the Captain was sitting, drinking a cup of coffee. The Captain looked up as he entered, and smiled.

"What's the matter Busby? You can't tell me you've already been turned down by every woman in town."

"Sir? I think we have a problem."



It was the next morning when Captain Ferguson and Sergeant Busby caught up with Bob. Once they had explained the conversation between Busby and McPherson, Bob simply shook his head.

"You know Captain, in a way I'm surprised it has taken this long for people to start talking about my leadership."

Surprised at his answer, Captain Ferguson said, "You mean to tell me you expected this?"

"Captain, these people are civilians. Unlike you and your men, they aren't used to taking orders. They certainly don't like doing without all the pleasures they had before everything started. They want their old life back. Sitting in the easy chair with a drink in one hand, and the T.V. remote in the other, watching the big game every Sunday."

"But they are all supposed to be believing Christians. How could they even think of questioning the man that God has put in charge?"

Bob shrugged his shoulders. "They did it to Moses. And that was after the Red Sea crossing. They had seen Gods' unbelievable works first hand. They had seen the army of Egypt wiped out before their eyes, yet they questioned Moses. Why should I expect anything different?"

"I wish I could be as calm about this as you are, Sir." was Sergeant Busby's' comment.

"I'll tell you the truth, Sergeant. If it were up to me, I'd let this McPherson person have his way. Let him come up with ways to protect, feed, and otherwise take care of this group. It is a tiresome chore."

The Captain smiled, and nodded his head. "I can identify with that. Still, what are we going to do about it?"

"As with everything, first I'm going to pray. Then if they give us enough time, I'll ask Pastor Jim for some time on Sunday morning to talk to everyone at once."