Times of Tribulation: Christian End Times Thriller (The End Times Saga, #7)

by Cliff Ball

  In Puerto Rico, Wayne Davis watched the supposedly miraculous resurrection with some annoyance and a little bit of jealousy. Turning off his television and with no one else in the room, he said, “Oh, that’s just wonderful. The Patriarch returns and I’m still stuck as an administrator over a pathetic region. I so wanted that job. I bet Josten knew all along this was going to happen. Oh well, what’s done is done, and I’m committed to the cause. I wonder what’s going to happen next?”

  Chapter 18

  “Administrator Davis, we’re here to install the hardware that’ll project the Patriarch’s image so the people can worship him the way he wants. For now, we’re supposed to install the hardware for the image in a central location in each of your region’s major cities. In the near future, after we’ve installed these in major locations and we have more of a supply of parts, neighborhoods will get their own imaging systems. Is there such a location where we can begin installing the hardware?” asked the head Union of United Earth engineer, Bruce Kim.

  Wayne hadn’t the slightest idea this was going to happen, since the Patriarch or the High Priest had seen fit to send a memo or any official documents about the project. While he knew the Patriarch issued a decree that everyone would worship his image, he thought the statue in Babylon would’ve been rebuilt and everyone would have to bow down in that direction. Wayne wondered if he was being shut out purposely by the two men, but he knew he couldn’t prove it. He asked, “What purpose does this new hardware serve when it comes to worshipping the Patriarch?”

  “The Patriarch decided that having 3D holographic images of himself around the world would be easier than making people bow down to something they couldn’t see hundreds of thousands of miles away from where they were. These holographic images can be taken over by the Patriarch himself when it suits him, so that anyone worshipping at the time will hear what the Patriarch has to say and how he feels about his people. The hologram itself can be programmed to be interactive, but it is limited, and the artificial intelligence required to have what the Patriarch wants for this hologram is years away. The Patriarch and High Priest feel that this is more of a personal way of people getting to know their god,”

  “Okay. How do they know if anyone will actually show up?”

  “You know how every person that’s been barcoded has also been embedded with a microchip in their forearm?”

  “Yes, I’m aware of that,”

  “For now, we’ll be using a scanner at the entrance to each holographic display that will pick up each chip and record the biometric data of the person coming to worship that day. Each person is required to worship four times a week, so if they don’t show up, we will know,”

  “I think I know the answer to this, but what happens if someone misses any of their required worship periods?”

  “The punishment increases with each offence. The first time, the offender will be strapped to a pole in the nearest public square, whipped, and left there for a week. The second time, one of their hands and a foot will be cut off, along with an eye being plucked out. The third and last time, they’ll be executed using the normal method of beheading. So far, from what I’ve heard, the threat of these punishments have been very effective. Around the world, people who hadn’t taken either marks have been lining up to take them and doing what they need to do to stay in their Patriarch’s good graces,”

  “Yes, I’ve seen that here. Do you know if sacrifices are required to the hologram?”

  “From what I’ve seen, there’s been mostly animal sacrifices, what’s left of the animals anyway, plus people leave fruits and vegetables. So far, I haven’t heard of any human sacrifices,”

  “I see. Do you know about the hunt for the remaining malcontents?”

  “Not really, sir, but I have seen the results of it on TV and it does make for some great entertainment. Okay, once my people are finished installing the hardware, we’ll continue on to other cities in your region. Sometime in the next few months, we’ll begin installing it in neighborhoods. For now, we just need the central location to install the hardware,”

  “All right, you can use the biggest sports stadium we have on the island. Do what you need to do to setup what you need,”

  “Thank you for your cooperation, Administrator.”

  “You’re welcome. Peace and blessings to you.” Both men shook hands and Kim went off to do what he had to do.

  Five months later, every major and some minor cities on Earth had the hardware in a central location that would project the 3D holographic image of the Patriarch. Wayne made the announcement to his region when the equipment had been installed that all would have to appear before the image in their cities, with set times based on alphabetical order of their last names, and then he explained the consequences. He was eager to see how many would defy the orders set forth by the Patriarch.

  The first few times everyone had to worship together, Wayne and Priest Nelson kept an eye on the biometric data of who did or didn’t show up at their required times to worship the Patriarch’s image. Even though the leadership of the Union of United Earth made it clear to the citizens that they’d be punished for defying orders, some always tested the limits. For the North American region, nearly ninety-nine percent of those marked showed up the first time for worship. Of those who didn’t, security went to their homes, arrested them, and dealt out the punishment. Being publicly whipped and humiliated worked for many of the stubborn within the global community, but there was always one or two whose punishment went to the second level, which got their attention, and they too joined the global community in the worship of the Patriarch. Davis and Nelson stopped keeping an eye on the data after they felt the security forces were effectively intimidating the people into doing what the Patriarch wanted.

  The United Earth engineers also installed the 3D imagers in neighborhoods and at each Universal Congregation building five months after installing the main one at the central locations. A family in each neighborhood were promoted as watch captains. Watch Captains were used to keep an eye on their neighbors and would report those that didn’t show up at their regularly scheduled worship time. They were very effective when it came to making sure each global citizen were faithful in worshipping Karimi as their god.

  Administrator Davis reported to his local Universal Congregation building shortly before he went home for the evening to do his fourth and final worship of the Patriarch for that week. As he was worshipping, he heard a woman scream and other people start wailing and crying out as if they were in some kind of horrible pain. The person next to Wayne collapsed and he watched in horror as worshippers began being covered in painful looking sores, blisters, and boils. What’s going on? Maybe I should get out of here before that happens to me. He thought to himself, as he started standing up so he could leave. Before Wayne walked a step, pain like he never felt before shot through his entire body and he was instantly covered with various skin diseases and sores. He collapsed to the ground, curled up in a fetal position, and then passed out.

  When he woke up, Wayne found himself staring up at the ceiling lights in the hospital, but he felt very numb, like he was being pumped full of drugs. He looked around, but saw no one, so he called for the nurse using the call button next to his bed. The nurse, who looked awful because of the sores all over her body, and was obviously in pain, came to him, and asked, “What can I help you with, Administrator?”

  Slurring his speech because of the numbness that apparently affected his tongue too, he asked, “What happened?”

  “We’re not entirely sure, sir. All we know is that most everyone in the global community have painful sores riddling their bodies. Pain medication works to a degree to soften the pain from these sores, but we don’t know how to get the sores to stop being so painful or to disappear,”

  “Oh. How long was I out?”

  “You were brought in here by one of your security guards about six hours ago, but I’m not sure how long you were passed out before that,”

>   “Has the Patriarch said anything about our affliction?”

  “Sorry, I haven’t exactly been paying attention to the news, we’ve been busy with this latest emergency,”

  “Okay, that’s all right. How long before I can go home?”

  “Whenever the meds wear off, probably in the next two hours or so. We’re currently in crisis mode, so we need all the beds and meds we can spare. Sorry,”

  “Don’t I get anything to lessen the pain?”

  “Sure, as much aspirin as you can stand to take without overdosing. Look, Administrator, as much as you’d prefer it that I stay here and talk to you, I do have a job to do. The case manager will probably be in here in the next hour, she’ll have you sign your release papers, and then you’d get to go home. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are other patients who need my help.” She walked out of the room to attend to the next patient.

  Two hours later, Wayne was released from the hospital, in pain, but felt he could tolerate it. He had to wear a loose fitting t-shirt and shorts, because when he tried to wear his suit, every single sore that was touched by the tight in places clothing would have his skin practically scream out in pain. At home, Wayne tried various skin creams to lessen the pain of the sores, but nothing worked. Before bed, he took plenty of nighttime aspirins so he could sleep, even though it was very uncomfortable trying to sleep in bed. At work the next day, he sent out a memo informing anyone who worked for him to wear anything that wouldn’t aggravate the sores. The memo reminded people not to show up to work naked, because Wayne knew there were a couple people that would if given the chance. Determined to grin and bear it, Wayne continued to do the Patriarch’s bidding.

  The boils and other skin problems struck Pete Robertson at roughly the same time as Administrator Davis. Unlike the Administrator, Pete and ten of the other men were doing some maintenance of the underground facility when Pete and two others were struck by the boils, one of whom was Bill Holland, still as unhappy as ever about having to stay in the Prepper camp. Pete and Bill collapsed in pain, so the others took them to their version of a hospital.

  Janet rushed to her husband’s side, and said to him after kissing him, since she wasn’t covered in sores, “I told you this was going to happen if you didn’t accept Christ as your Savior,”

  “I know, but all of those other disasters seemed to be happening to other people, and not to any of us. I’m sorry for not listening to you or the Harrison’s. And to think I was complaining about believers to David Cohen when I was talking to him the other day. Boy, was I stupid,”

  “Yup, that you are,”

  “Gee, thanks, Dear,” then he stuck his tongue out at her.

  She laughed. “You’re very welcome, my husband,”

  “Do you think these sores will go away if I ask Jesus to save me of my sins?”

  “Yes, but you have to be sincere. He’ll know if you’re not,”

  “I know and I’m definitely sincere when I say I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is in complete control of these events happening around us. What do I need to do to ask Jesus into my heart?”

  “Oh praise the Lord! Okay, even though you don’t have to say this exact prayer to Jesus, I’m having you repeat it because that’s the one taught to me. Repeat after me: Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to you that I’m a sinner, and I’m sorry for my sins. I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins. With all of my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. At this very moment, I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Lord and Savior. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me and giving me eternal life. Amen.”

  Pete repeated the prayer and felt Jesus enter into his life. He also felt guilty for not doing it sooner, but he was glad he would go to Heaven with his wife. The pain from his sores went away, which was a huge relief to him, and the sores themselves began slowly disappearing. The husband and wife kissed and Pete was about to say thank you to her, when a gunshot, followed by another one rang out. Pete got out of bed and ran with his wife to where the shots came from.

  They found Doctor Cameron bent over two people in a room down the hall, with blood pooling near them. Cameron looked up at Pete when he entered his field of view, and said, “The Holland’s killed themselves, by murder-suicide. Robin must’ve snuck in here with a gun, even though she was in great pain from the sores. Looks like Bill shot her first and then took his own life. I know they weren’t the most pleasant people, but I’m sorry they felt the need to kill themselves, especially since it gets them to Hell so much quicker,”

  “It is a shame, but they probably felt no hope after rejecting Christ when they did, and then these sores probably sent them over the edge. I mourn for their eternal souls, but it was their choice. Okay, Doc, clean them up and then we’ll bury them,”

  “Will do. Where are we going to bury the bodies?”

  “Oh, we’ll go outside, the government’s not putting an effort into spying on the rural areas like they used to, so I think burying them outside will be better and we all need fresh air.” Then Pete turned to his wife, “That could’ve been me if I hadn’t accepted Christ,”

  Giving him a hug, she replied, “If not for the grace of God, yes. I’m glad you chose to do the right thing, Dear, and now we’ll have to start you on Bible devotionals first thing in the morning. Thank you, Lord, for saving my husband!” She kissed him and began to walk away, saying, “I’m going to round up the ladies so we can dress the Holland’s for a proper burial. See you later.”

  The group went outside for the first time in almost two years, even though with the one-third of sunlight making it colder than normal. Graves were dug for the two Holland’s and then Josh Harrison said a few words about Christ and eternal life, mostly for those gathered around him. The bodies were placed in the ground and covered up. Pete felt blessed to have asked Christ into his life, otherwise, he thought he might’ve ended up like Bill and Robin.

  “Thank you, Lord, for being patient with me, for saving me from my sins, and for allowing me to ask you into my life. Please help me to lead this group the way you’d like me to lead them and I pray for the protection of the Jews who also follow you and are being persecuted by the Anti-Christ. Thank you for everything you do for me, my wife, and everyone who follows you. In your name, I pray, amen.”

  Chapter 19

  For the first time in what seemed like forever, Pete was fishing on the Rio Grande on his boat, as were the other men, while the women setup a site for a cookout, and the few children that was with the group were playing. They finally figured out the times of day various government satellites passed over their part of the North American region since the use of drones had largely been abandoned when the drones were possessed by the demons, so they knew when they could leave their hiding place and come out into the open.

  Sharing a boat with Josh while they fished, Pete said to him, “Too bad there’s not a way we can take the fight to the Patriarch and the High Priest. I don’t particularly like doing nothing when we have a whole bunch of weapons at our disposal,”

  “If we tried that, we’d be slaughtered before we got very far and we wouldn’t realize it until we found ourselves in front of God. You just have to trust that God has everything under control and the Patriarch will get what’s coming to him in the end, which is pretty close now. Just have patience, all right?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Two hours later, Pete had caught his fifth fish when something strange began happening, the water started turning red and the animals in the water started coming up dead. Shouting to the others, “We need to get out of the water! It’s turning to blood and the fish are all dying. Come on!”

  The men in their various boats began rowing or turned on their onboard motors to get them back to shore. Before Pete could make it to shore, the stench from the death and the blood began to be overpowering, but he made it back o
nto land without throwing up his breakfast. Unfortunately, some of the other men weren’t so lucky, including Josh. Janet and Gwen met their husbands with hand towels over their noses and mouths so they could try to block the smell. Pete said to Janet as they walked away from the foul smelling water, “This must be one of those bowl judgments you’ve been talking about,”

  “It is, from Revelation 16:3-7. This is the second one, plus the third one is basically the same, since all water becomes blood and is supposed to kill everything in the water. It’s because the world system has killed the saints and prophets and shed their blood, so now the world gets to drink blood as punishment. I just hope the water we’ve stored hasn’t been turned to blood,”

  “I hope so too. So, how long is this supposed to last?”

  “I don’t know, I guess it’ll be like all the other judgments, only when Christ returns will they stop,”

  “That makes sense. Man, does it smell awful out here, let’s round up everyone and head back to our little underground fortress. Once we’re home, we can watch on TV the creative excuses the Patriarch gives for this particular judgment.”

  Turning on their television, UETN covered the latest disaster with video and still pictures from bodies of water around the world, “As you can see, ocean life all over the world has died, washing up on beaches around the world, and causing a stench the like of which has never been smelled before. Even hundreds of miles inland, residents can smell the stench. Wherever there is life in above ground water, all life has died – from alligators and turtles to whales and seals, even creatures we’ve never had the chance to see before now have died from this mysterious calamity. Rivers and fresh water all over the world has also turned to blood, killing the inhabitants of those waters too. Could this be a result of manmade climate change? Did too much toxins in our atmosphere affect ocean life, causing them to die? Could all the trash floating in the oceans cause it? United Earth scientists will be looking for the answers in the coming weeks and we’ll hear from the Patriarch the results of their investigation. Stay tuned to this network for more coverage of this climatic event.”