by Mark Goodwin
Everett nodded somberly. “The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was fifteen kilotons. We’re talking ten times the destructive power.”
“Oh.” Ali lowered his gaze.
“You haven’t heard anything about a strike against Ankara?” Everett asked.
“No.” Courtney held her head in her hands as if the news was sucking the life from her veins. “General Semyaza hit Aleppo and Damascus with tactical nukes, but they were low-yield devices detonated only a few hundred feet from the surface. They won’t give off enough radiation to give us a problem.”
“Aleppo and Damascus?” Ali inquired.
Courtney nodded, then turned to Everett. “You were right about MOC joining forces with the Alliance. Marwan Bakr had suicide bombers positioned inside Jerusalem that attacked GR Peacekeeper bases all around the cities. They were coordinated with the nuclear attacks.”
“So Luz hit their known strongholds.” Everett could have never imagined that the final world war would be so complete in its destruction of the human race. Speaking on behalf of his father, the Father of Lies, Luz had promised peace and security while delivering destruction and death.
Courtney stood to get her canteen from the corner of the room. “Semyaza hit Bagdad and Mosul also.”
“No nuclear bomb reach to Jerusalem?” Ali repositioned himself against the wall.
“Not yet. So far, the Iron Dome is working,” she replied.
“Any news on the invasion?” Everett asked.
“They’re not talking about it on GRBN which tells me the Alliance is advancing toward Jerusalem. If the empire was winning, Yates and Smith would be singing praises to Luz.”
“You mean the republic,” Ali corrected her.
“I mean empire. Most republics eventually devolve into empires—Rome, America; this one just happened to do it a little faster.”
Everett added, “And as the republic devolves into an empire, its citizens devolve into subjects. Of course, with the new world order, the people were citizens in name only from the beginning.”
“Yes. GRBN has been using all those terms for some time. Republic, empire, citizen, subject. They say like all words mean same thing,” Ali observed.
“If you want to take down a civilization, you have to attack the language and the meaning of words. Once you’ve done that, no one can argue with you. Nothing they can say has any meaning because the words themselves have been deemed to be worthless.” Everett considered the long, tiresome spiral the world had been on since he’d become aware of what was going on. He felt a sort of comfort that it would all be over soon.
Suddenly, the feed cut and the television lost its signal.
Everett sat up, anxious about what may have caused the outage.
“What happened?” Courtney asked.
“Could be anything.” Ali looked less concerned than Everett and Courtney. “Could be raining. Could be satellite was hit. Could be station sending signal to satellite was bombed. Anything can interrupt signal at any point in system. Nuclear war is going on all over the world.” Ali stood up. “I am surprise that we have signal as long as we did. I see you in the morning. Good night.”
Everett waved at Ali as he left and tried to put it out of his mind.
Courtney looked perplexed as she picked up the AM/FM radio and scrolled through static finding no stations. “Do you think it could have been a nuke on Ankara? Maybe the shock wave knocked out the satellite signal.”
Everett watched her futile attempt to get a signal. “I suppose that’s possible. But we don’t have any way of finding out.”
“Can you try the Ham radio?”
“No one would know anything this soon. Besides, the only people who speak English on the Ham radio around here are the people in the underground cities. Anyone else would be speaking Turkish. I’d need Ali to communicate with them. We’ll see what we can find out in the morning.”
“So what do we do now?”
“Now?” Everett thought for a moment. “Now, we trust in God.” He pulled out his Bible, turned to the book of Psalms, and read aloud to his wife. Soon, the soothing words of God’s Word had quieted their fretful spirits, and they both fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER 20
And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Revelation 11:11-14
Friday afternoon, Everett stood behind Ali as he listened to men speaking Turkish over the Ham radio. “Are they saying anything about Ankara? Do we know if it was nuked?”
Ali held up his hand signaling for Everett to be quiet so he could hear the rest of the transmission. Once the chatter ceased, Ali replied, “They don’t say nothing about Ankara. Three days I listen—four or five hours a day. If something happen over there, I am sure the people will talk about it.”
“Can you ask? Maybe one of the Hams have heard something. It would be good to know one way or the other.” Everett was vexed by not knowing. No one in any of the underground cities had anything that could act as a Geiger counter so they were all in the dark about potentially harmful radiation levels.
“No, Everett!” Ali looked at him like he was crazy. “These are not Ham radio operator like you are accustomed to in America, or even like people who use radio back in Batumi. Probably all people we are hearing on radio are Martyrs of the Caliphate. Last thing you want to do is tell them we are nearby.”
Everett felt stupid for not having considered such an issue. “Yeah, we don’t want to do that. Is anyone talking about what is going on in Jerusalem?”
“Caliph Marwan is connecting with Alliance in Megiddo. Chinese-Russian Alliance forces are being held back from Israel by GR army on the eastern front, but Alliance have broken through on northern front. China and Russia push down through Lebanon and have taken control of Haifa and Nazareth. MOC is coming in from east, across Syrian border. Plan is to meet in Megiddo for final push toward Jerusalem. All around Megiddo is much open, flat farmland. Is good staging area for launch assault.”
Everett replied, “It makes for a nice open battlefield also. I’m guessing General Semyaza will bring the battle up to Megiddo and save them the trip.”
Ali smiled. “You are not guessing, Everett. You know. You have already read the ending.”
Everett tussled Ali’s hair. “You got me. I read the end of the book.”
“I also read end of book. This is why I want to get television fixed today. It has been three days since Luz kill Elijah and Moses. I want to see what Smith and Yates will say when God raises them to life and calls them up in the clouds. I think perhaps little adjustment with satellite dish can bring back signal.”
“I’d like to see it also, Ali, but we don’t know what the radiation levels are. Even if Ankara wasn’t hit, the polar and the subtropical jet streams could be pulling radiation from the explosions across Europe straight for us.”
“Even if this is true, it will be too diluted to make radiation poison.” Ali grinned showing his big white teeth. “I make deal for you. I will wear garbage bag on legs, head, arms, and body.”
“You’re going to make an NBC suit out of trash can liners?”
“And little bit of duct tape.”
“No way.” Everett shook his head.
“Come on, Everett. I will be outside like five minutes at most.” Ali looked at him as if he were waiting for Everett to change his mind. “According to your calculation, we have less than two months before New Millennium begin.”
Everett pressed his lips together but said nothing.
“Shabbat
begin at sunset. Seventh Vial will be poured out upon earth. This is big one, Everett. If we can get even one piece of information from television, it could be difference between life and death for many people in the underground cities.”
Everett looked at Ali out of the corner of his eye. “That’s a good point, but it has nothing to do with you trying to convince me to let you go outside. You just want to see the reaction of Luz and all his followers when Elijah and Moses stand up in the streets of Jerusalem.”
Ali nodded to cede the debate. “Can be both things.”
Everett neither granted nor denied Ali’s request. But he also said nothing as Ali gathered the trash bags and duct tape, then began fashioning his suit. First, he made a poncho out of one bag. Next, he punched leg holes out of another, which he pulled up around his waist and secured it to his body with a belt of duct tape.
Courtney walked into the area where they were. “What’s this one doing? Dressing up like a raisin?”
Everett sighed. “He’s going outside to adjust the satellite dish.”
“And you’re letting him?”
“I can’t exactly stop him.”
She stood with her hands on her hips. “You’re the defacto administrator of Kaymakli. You exactly can stop him.”
“He made a really good case for getting the television back on.”
“Tell me it’s not the entertainment value of watching Elijah and Moses come back to life. We’d all get a kick out seeing the GR’s reaction to that one, but surely you both know it’s not worth risking Ali’s life.” She lifted her hands momentarily and snapped them back on her hips as if to doubly emphasize her displeasure with Ali’s scheme.
“It’s not just that.” Everett held up his hand.
“Not just that?”
Everett knew he should have taken more time to formulate his reply. “It’s not that. Not that at all. The Seventh Vial will begin sometime after sunset. This is the quake that will level every mountain and destroy every island. Seventy-pound hailstones will be falling from the sky. This is heaven’s grand finale in the fireworks show we’ve been watching over the past seven years. I guarantee it’s going to be big. The smallest piece of information from the television could save the lives of thousands if we hear something and are able to take action on it.”
“Please, Courtney,” Ali said. “Everett already try many times to stop me. Do not be mad at your husband. I want to do this.”
“Leave your irradiated raisin suit outside when you come back in.” She huffed and walked away.
An hour later, Everett found Courtney on the second level of the underground city in Rabbi Hertzog’s living quarters. “We’ve got the television signal back if you two want to come watch the news.”
“Yes, yes!” The rabbi had mastered his skill of scrambling up from his cot and onto his crutches.
Courtney likewise leaped up from her seated position but quickly tempered her enthusiasm. “If that’s what everyone else is doing, I suppose I’ll tag along.”
Everett rolled his eyes without her seeing and led the way back upstairs. Ali was sitting against the wall watching TV when they arrived.
“Have they risen yet?” Hertzog let himself down to sit on a bucket and leaned his crutches against the wall.
“No mention of it yet.” Ali did not turn from the screen.
Everett took a seat next to Courtney on her sleeping bag. He took her hand in an effort to quell the squabbling.
Heather Smith’s computer-generated image issued an urgent update on the ongoing war between the Global Republic and the Chinese-Russian Alliance. “General Amezarak has successfully pushed Alliance forces back across the Jordanian and Saudi Arabian borders and is pursuing them into Iraq. At the same time, General Azazel is bringing GR supersoldiers, artillery weapons, armored vehicles, and supplies to northern Israel from Tel Aviv and Ashdod. A buildup of Alliance troops and supplies crossed over the Lebanese border into northern Israel. They appear to have been using Megiddo as a staging area from which they planned to attack Jerusalem.
“The Alliance and MOC fighters tried to split their forces in order to attack on multiple fronts. Minister of Defense, General Semyaza, told GRBN earlier today that this was the fatal mistake he has been waiting for. He hopes to defeat the Alliance armies on both fronts by the first part of next week. He said in a radio interview this morning that both the Martyrs of the Caliphate and the Chinese-Russian Alliance have no remaining population centers able to provide provisions to the dwindling armies, and it is only a matter of time until they come crashing down under the pressure of their own lack of logistical support and much-needed supplies. Even so, he pledged not to let up his counter-attacks against the two entities who have spawned what has turned out to be the most destructive war in the history of the earth. In the course of one week, ninety percent of the world's cities, by population, has been reduced to soot and ash.
She looked up with a fabricated look of remorse. “Our hearts and wishes go out to those who lost loved ones in last week’s attacks.”
Suddenly, her fake frown turned upside down to form an imitation smile. “In other news, the celebration over the deaths of the Two Troublers has reemerged into the streets of Jerusalem. With Christmas, Saturnalia, and the Winter Solstice still months away, merrymakers have dubbed this momentous occasion the Festival of Hedonism and are celebrating by presenting each other with gifts and warm wishes. Pope Peter has not yet issued an official statement about the Festival of Hedonism, but sources inside the Ministry of Religion say it is likely to become an official week-long annual religious holiday.”
“That’s right, Heather.” The screen pulled back to include Harrison Yates with a picture in picture live shot of the party going on at the Temple Mount. “One of the ways people are celebrating is by making straw or paper effigies of the Two Troublers, then burning them in the streets. Only time will tell which of these activities will become a tradition and which will be replaced by even more creative forms of expression.”
“That’s so true, Harrison. His Majesty recently reminded us that it was for Tammuz, the divinely incarnated god-child born to Semiramis, for whom the Christmas tree was first put up and decorated. It was only after decades of persecution upon pagan cultures at the hands of radical Christians that they stole the idea of the Christmas tree and the winter holiday altogether, that this sacred symbol was perverted into the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Whom, I might add, many historians say never existed.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” The rabbi sat with his arms crossed, glaring at the lying woman on the television.
Harrison looked closely at his monitor. “Heather, did you see that?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied.
Yates giggled. “Take a close look at your monitor. There is a group of party goers dancing around the rotting corpse of one of the Troublers. And I could have sworn his hand just moved!”
She squealed. “Oh, no! Don’t tell me. I bet they’ve tied fishing line to the hands and feet of the Troubler. There’s probably someone in a crane above them that is going to make them dance around like marionettes. It’s all so macabre—I just love it. This festival is going to turn out to be like a second Halloween. If there’s one thing we need, it’s another All Hallows Eve. It’s absolutely my favorite holiday.”
“I don’t see any strings, but his leg just moved.” Yates didn’t seem to be paying attention to Heather Smith.
“Oh yuck. I hope it’s not a rat under there gnawing away at his corpse. Everyone thinks it’s a good idea to leave dead people in the street until the vermin show up.” She rolled her eyes.
“Or the zombies.” Harrison looked perplexed. “Would you look at that. He’s standing up!”
Heather Smith abruptly ran out of clever things to say. Her jaw hung open like a frog trying to catch flies as she stared at her monitor.
The picture-in-picture shot of the Temple Mount showed Elijah
standing up from the pavement where his body had been left three days prior. One by one, the drunken revelers realized what was happening and backed away from him. Moses walked into view and brushed the dust off the front of Elijah’s robe.
The television provided no sound from the scene at the Temple Mount, but the entire crowd looked up toward the sky at something which had gotten their attention. Moments later, cascading light flowed down from above onto the two prophets, and they both ascended into the sky. The warm light quickly faded, and darkness fell upon the Temple Mount.
The partiers scurried about gathering their half-empty liquor bottles and hurrying to leave like teenagers fleeing a house party where the police had just arrived.
The Temple Mount had mostly cleared out when the camera began to shake. The television showed one wall of the new temple collapsing. Likewise, the qubba over the Dome of the Rock fell in from the violent shaking. Then, the feed cut.
Heather Smith began speaking, but there was no picture to accompany the audio. “Folks, I’m not sure what we just saw there, but evidently an earthquake just hit the Temple Mount. We’re even feeling it here in our studio, and it seems to be causing some technical difficulties. Just bear with us for a moment until this thing passes.”
“Is that it? Is that the Seventh Vial?” Courtney looked worried.
Everett looked at his watch and shook his head. “We’ve still got another hour before sunset in Jerusalem. That was probably a foreshock. We’ll feel it here when the big one hits. Everyone should have something to cover their head and face with.”
“I thought you said we’d be safe down here,” the rabbi said.
“We’ll be safer here than anywhere, but we could still have some dust and debris falling.” Everett patted the old man on his back. “It’s just a precaution.”
The sound on the television went out, and a static image on the screen read, “Please stand by.”
