The Aftermath

by Patrick Higgins

  “Please understand that only a fraction of our staff is here,” the waiter with bloodshot eyes explained evenly, “so it’ll take longer than usual for your food to be prepared. I’ll bring plenty of fresh-baked dinner rolls to hold you over.”

  Calloway wasn’t at all surprised by this. “Thank you.”

  The waiter left, and Tamika wasted no time, “So, how do you plan to prove my Momma and two boys are in Heaven now?”

  “Boy, you don’t mess around,” Charles exclaimed.

  “Not when it involves my family,” Tamika said, matter of factly.

  There goes easing into things. “Like I said on the phone, I grew up in the church. My daddy was a preacher. Everyone in my family had this unquenchable thirst for Jesus. They thought I did too, but it was only an act. Sure had lots of folks fooled though. Lately my business was the only church I knew and attended. My wife, on the other hand, never missed a week at church.”

  Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. “Guess part of me figured she was doing enough for both of us. Reason I’m sitting here today is I was wrong.”

  “Wrong with what?” Tamika asked.

  “Thinking she was doing enough for both of us. Monique knew she couldn’t earn her salvation. No one can. She always told our kids that God had no grandchildren, and no one could be sponsored into Heaven. Salvation’s a free gift from God that’s meant to be deeply intimate and personal.”

  “Monique was a remarkable woman. She sang in the choir and taught Sunday school classes. She didn’t do these things because she had to, but because she wanted to serve her Maker to the best of her ability.” Calloway looked down at his bread plate. “I didn’t deserve her.”

  “Well, if it’s a free gift,” Tamika said, ignoring the last part, “how come she got it and you didn’t?” She was clearly skeptical. Her arms were folded across her chest, and there was a look on her face that would scare away any pesky salesman.

  “Because at the time, I didn’t want Jesus to be in control of my life. All I wanted was to be the top dog in my company. That all changed last night.”

  “What does all this have to do with my two boys?”

  “Everything! Like I said on the phone, I’m convinced Jesus came back for His Church yesterday. Your momma was a believer, right?”

  Tamika shifted uncomfortably in her chair and remained silent.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. How old were your sons?”

  Were? Tamika cringed to think of her boys in the past tense. She took a sip of water and cleared her throat. “Jamal’s five and Dante’s four.”

  “Not yet accountable for their sins. Trust me, they’re in a much better place. The fact that they disappeared proves that much.”

  The waiter came by with freshly-baked rolls just out of the oven. He placed them on the table and quickly left them again.

  “How can you say Jesus came back for His Church?” Tamika said, still not following him. “Haven’t you heard the news? Churches were packed today with record numbers of devastated people.”

  “Still doesn’t change what happened yesterday. The Bible’s been teaching for two-thousand years that one day Jesus would come back for His true Church. This is known as the Rapture.

  “My daddy preached on it all the time. He said once the true believers were gone, mass tribulation would annihilate Planet Earth. I don’t know about you, but I’d say we had some mass tribulation yesterday.”

  Tamika nodded and left it at that. How could she possibly protest?

  “Not to further scare you, Tamika, but we ain’t seen nothing yet. From what I read last night, and I’m not proclaiming to be an expert, it looks like we’re in for some serious judgment from God, far worse than what we’ve already seen. In fact, nothing in the past can rival what’s headed our way.”

  Tamika buttered a roll. “If God loves us so much, why would He do this to us?”

  Calloway noticed her change of posture and took it as a good sign. Buttering bread was infinitely better than folding one’s arms across their chest. “God didn’t do anything to us, Tamika, we did it to ourselves! We did it to Him! Is it fair for us to keep on sinning against Him and then blame Him for the negative consequences?”

  Tamika shook her head, then shivered, unable to shrug off his strong words.

  “God demands justice for the sins of the world. Lord knows how many times I’ve heard that preached throughout my life. Had I only repented of my sinful living prior to yesterday, I’d be with Jesus and my family now.” Charles thought about what he just said and snickered. “Who am I kidding? How could I possibly repent when my heart wasn’t even right with God?”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “Since I wasn’t a real Christian, God’s Holy Spirit wasn’t living inside me. Therefore, I was completely incapable of repenting before a just and holy God.

  Calloway sighed, “Shoot, I didn’t want to repent. I was too blinded by my personal quest for success. Money was my Savior, not Jesus! Now that that’s been changed, I plan to learn all I can about the Word of God and share it with everyone I come in contact with.”

  Tamika shot Charles a sideways look. “How can you be so sure you goin’ to Heaven, Charles?”

  “My eyes were finally opened last night. God changed my heart and made me see just how sinful I was. In faith, I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Knowing my faith was genuine, Jesus cleansed my soul and forgave all my sins, every-last one of them!”

  Tamika couldn’t ignore what she saw on Calloway’s face. It was the look of someone who’d just received something so life changing, so remarkable, words couldn’t properly describe the way he felt, despite his many great losses.

  “You make it sound so simple.”

  “It is simple, Tamika. Perhaps that’s why so few believe it. Those who did prior to yesterday are in Heaven, including your mother and two boys.”

  Tamika had to admit, if only to herself, that it sounded comforting, but she remained suspicious. It sounded too good to be true.

  “Have you ever read the Book of Revelation?”

  “Momma was always reading and reciting it. Never paid her no mind, though. It was too scary for me,” Tamika admitted.

  “I always thought it was ridiculous myself. Now I’m convinced the things described in that Book are coming to pass right before our eyes. All you have to do is read it and take a good look around.”

  “Hmm,” Tamika said.

  At least she was listening.

  Calloway went on, “Everything my daddy said about the Rapture happened yesterday. Christians were removed from the planet in the twinkling of an eye. Though I haven’t been able to contact anyone back home, I know they’re with Jesus. Remember the man who disappeared in your cab?”

  Tamika nodded yes. How could I ever forget!

  “I just met Richard yesterday at the airport in Florida. Almost immediately he told me how God was number-one in his life. At the time, I didn’t wanna hear it. I was too excited about coming to New York and being keynote speaker. The difference between me and Richard is he was a real Christian and I was a phony. Believe me, I ain’t braggin’. I feel like the biggest failure on the planet.”

  Calloway took a moment to collect himself. “You must understand, I used to tell everyone I was a Christian, but it was merely lip service. I’m sure many who are now in Heaven would be shocked to know I didn’t make it.”

  “So, what you saying is Jesus came back and made all those people disappear?”

  “No doubt in my mind, Tamika. But only the true believers went to Heaven with Him.” This was said with great authority. “Do you have a Bible?”

  “Used to. When my husband became a Muslim, ex-husband, that is,” Tamika added sarcastically, “he tore it to pieces and threw it away. Didn’t matter though. Never read it anyway.”

  “After dinner, would you like to come up to my room?”

  “Wait a minute, mister, I…”

  “C’mon, Tamika, I ain’t about th
at. That’s the last thing on my mind. Focus on the big picture. You need to read what I’m reading. If you come to believe it like I do, it’ll help you make better sense of all the insanity. Honestly, if not for reading the Word of God last night, there’s no telling how I’d be right now.”

  You’d be a mess like me, Tamika thought to say, but didn’t. “Okay, Mister Calloway, I’ll come to your room and see what you got to show me.”

  “Great,” he said, savoring his victory.

  Just then, the waiter brought their dinner salads.

  33

  PRESIDENT DANFORTH WAS IN the Situation Room with some of his top aides. He looked awful. He hadn’t slept a wink since stepping foot back in Washington some 30 hours ago. How could anyone sleep under such perilous conditions? Especially when the news kept getting worse with each new briefing.

  The President just learned that one of his most-pressing fears was confirmed: his good friend of many years, Surgeon General Dr. Ethan Summers, was among the missing. And dozens of aides and subordinates in his cabinet were still unaccounted for.

  The U.S. Government kept shrinking by the hour, placing even more of the weight of the whole world on the President’s, right now, not too broad shoulders. Hence, the migraine headache.

  At the Pentagon, thousands of top military officials were working around the clock to secure America’s borders, while government officials crunched numbers in a hopeful attempt to recalculate the steadily shrinking American population.

  The past 24 hours helped bridge a few gaps, but still they were nowhere near knowing the exact number of deaths and disappearances in the US. That would take months, if not years.

  In any event, if their initial calculations were correct, what they were learning was nothing short of horrific. America was hit harder than originally thought.

  Was it enough to cripple the sovereign nation? Most in the room were starting to think so.

  Before leaving the Situation Room, the President placed his National Security Adviser Nelson Casanieves in charge of the dubious task of overseeing the numbers of deaths and disappearances in America. Foreign Minister Jessica Whitmore was put in charge of monitoring the shifting populations abroad.

  Chief of Staff Aaron Gillespie had an international population expert brought in from Georgetown, to share consensus reports of the world’s 50 most populated countries prior to the disappearances.

  “As of yesterday,” the expert began, “on average, four-hundred thousand births were recorded each day worldwide, or roughly two-hundred and seventy-five per minute. Nearly twenty-six percent of all humans on the planet, as of yesterday, were fourteen and under. This equates to just under two billion souls. Roughly forty percent of them are five and under. Were, rather.” He cleared his throat. “This equates to twelve percent of the population.”

  Handing Chief of Staff Gillespie a copy of the list, he cautioned, “Since this percentage varies in each country—after all, until just recently China only allowed one child per family—my calculations are based on a more conservative ten percent instead of twelve, just to be safe.

  “Regarding the ten most populated countries, with a one-point-four billion population before yesterday, at ten percent, China would have lost more than one-hundred and forty million children. This equates to more than the total populations of all but eight countries on the planet.

  “With a population of more than one-point-three billion citizens, India was the second hardest hit. At ten percent, they would have lost approximately one-hundred and thirty million children.

  “The U.S., being third in population, lost around thirty-three million children,” the expert said, briefly glancing up over his glasses just long enough to see Aaron Gillespie flinch.

  He went on, “Indonesia, being fourth, would have lost roughly twenty-seven million of its citizens. Brazil, being fifth, would have lost roughly twenty-three million. Pakistan, being sixth, twenty-one million.

  “Bangladesh, being seventh, eighteen-million. Nigeria, being eighth, seventeen-million. Russia, being ninth, fifteen-million. And Mexico, being tenth, would have lost thirteen-million citizens.

  “Of the nearly seven-hundred and fifty million children five years and younger, who populated the planet as of yesterday, fifty-eight percent of them, or four-hundred and thirty-seven million, lived in the world’s top ten most populated countries. Now they’re gone.”

  It never occurred to Aaron Gillespie that before yesterday, more than half the children on the planet lived in the world’s top-ten most populated countries. Billions of young lives snuffed out just like that! It was almost unfathomable.

  “Now, regarding teenagers and adults, it’s impossible at this juncture to project anything close to accurate. Let’s face it, even in the twenty-first century, many third-world countries are lucky to have one phone in every four homes, including large remote sections of China and India.

  “With more than two-point-seven billion people occupying those two countries as of yesterday, many months could pass before we can have a close tally.

  “But I’m afraid that’s not what troubles me the most,” the expert said with great caution. Gillespie noticed his uneasiness and nodded for him to continue. “Some countries we’ve been able to contact are reporting minimal disappearances among their adults and teenagers. Some are reporting none whatsoever.”

  The expert took a deep breath and scratched his head. “For whatever reason, it seems each country differs from the next. Either this is a political cover up or a staggering revelation. Only time will tell.”

  “What about our country?”

  “Well, after meeting with National Security Adviser Nelson Casanieves, it appears we’ve had numerous disappearances among our adults and teenagers.”

  Placing the chart on the table, he looked Aaron Gillespie square in the eyes, “I regret to inform that perhaps as many as one-hundred million of our three-hundred and twenty million citizens, or roughly thirty percent of our population, are gone. Nearly one-third of them were five years of age or younger.

  “Naturally, even without the tragedy, the death and dying part will continue like clockwork, only I believe it will double, triple or even quadruple. But for all intents and purposes, the eleven-thousand children born each day in America as of yesterday is essentially over. As for how long, who can possibly say?”

  Aaron Gillespie broke into a cold sweat. If it was true that some countries had minimal losses among their teenagers and adults, America was in deep trouble. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wondering how the U.S. could remain the superpower of the world after losing more people, percentage wise, than any other country on the planet? We couldn’t, could we?

  Aaron Gillespie was shaken to the core. The 67-year-old portly man had a sudden urge to pace the floor, but his knees were too weak to allow for it.

  The President’s Chief-of-Staff took a few deep breaths and thanked the expert for coming, then walked ever so gingerly to the Oval Office to share this deeply troubling revelation with his boss. Where do I even begin?

  “You’re telling me we lost more people than anyone else?!” the President barked. He rubbed his throbbing head, staring more at the list than at Gillespie. He was already tired and moody. Now this? As America’s highest civil servant, it was up to him to find a way out of this mess, without making excuses.

  Aaron Gillespie winced, “Well, Sir, not exactly. It appears that countries like China and India have lost more citizens than we have. For instance, if China lost every child under the age of six, which we have every reason to believe is the case, going by the outlined figure of ten percent, they lost one-hundred and forty million children. This equates to four times as many children than we have. India lost three times as many.”

  “However, for whatever reason, it appears that disappearances among teenagers and adults in those countries are minimal. In fact, the same appears to be true for the top fifty countries in the world.”

  Aaron Gillespie looked deeply t
roubled, “Some even claim that no one over the age of five were among the disappearances in their countries. If true, going by the percentages, we lost more people than any other country when it comes to overall disappearances. As of yet, we don’t know why. All we can do is speculate.”

  “How can this be?” President Danforth stared at the numbers on the paper in his hand. “This could cripple us as a nation!”

  “Yes, Sir, I know.”

  The President panicked, “We can’t let this get out. If it does, world leaders will think we’re weak or cursed or something.”

  “I’m sure they’ll find out soon enough, Mister President.”

  The President got up out of his seat, “Great! Just what I need before addressing the nation!”

  Drained of every emotion, it was time to forget about being America’s leader for the time being and focus his attention on his grieving wife, who was still in a total state of shock.

  The First Lady had been locked inside her bedroom ever since arriving back at the White House. She refused to eat or take her medication. Wasn’t that already enough for one man to cope with?

  Add to that the death of his mother and the disappearances of so many family members grinding deep holes in his heart, and it was a wonder the President could function at all.

  Now this bombshell? President Danforth glanced at the numbers again. How can we possibly survive this?

  He stormed out of the Oval Office...

  34

  AT SEVEN O’CLOCK SHARP, Brian Mulrooney’s doorbell rang. He dashed to the window and saw Jacquelyn Swindell’s red SUV parked out front. He closed the Bible he was reading and placed it on the end table in the spare bedroom where he originally found it, and buzzed Jacquelyn in.

  He dashed to the bathroom to check himself in the mirror. He rubbed his right pointer finger across his teeth as if to brush them. Satisfied with his appearance he hurried downstairs, taking them two at a time, meeting Jacquelyn halfway.

  “You’re right on time.”

  “I did my best.” Jacquelyn flashed a weary smile that quickly vanished. She had deep bags beneath her eyes—the result of massive crying and loss of sleep.