THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2)

by John Price

  Jack Madison’s counsel stood to respond, but he was hushed by the Judge, “Counsel, you don’t need to respond. I decided this morning when I read this file how I would rule on the question of bond. I grant the government’s motion. There will be no bail. Defendant Madison is ordered to be removed to and incarcerated in the federal detention center in Dallas.

  Both Jack and his counsel were speechless. Neither had expected Jack to be accorded the kind of treatment given to serial killers.

  14

  Basement of Fred Hectorski

  Fred was having a bad day. One of his psychoactive meds had run out. He realized this morning that he was out of the orange pill that caused Fred to see the world as it really was. When he went to bed he checked his several pills to make sure that his supply was good for the morning. But, now that he spread the eleven pills on the table in the private, locked room on the lower level of his house, he could clearly see that the orange pill was missing. That won’t do, Fred knew. Without the orange pill, Fred had….well….Fred had trouble. Things around Fred didn’t work right. Kitchen appliances didn’t seem to work for him and the machines just kept beeping at him. The image on his television screen was upside down, even if he turned the aged television set over. If anyone came to his door, such as a salesman or the paper boy, they screamed at him, yelling obscenities, though he didn’t do anything to incur their wrath. At least, Fred didn’t think he did. Maybe he was the one that was yelling at his visitors, he thought, but on reflection, he couldn’t be sure.

  What Fred was sure of was that he had to get more orange pills. Where was Jim? He should have been here yesterday. He always came to Fred’s small house on Wednesday, always right at noon, always with Fred’s supply of what Jim called his “pep pills”. Fred had signed up five years before to be a test subject in the psychoactive drug testing protocol. He did so at the time primarily because he needed the money. His local evangelical church, where Fred served briefly as a Deacon a few years ago, had helped Fred for several months by paying some of his bills, but even that charitable act eventually stopped when Fred’s attendance at the church came to a halt. Fred seemed to be unable to get a job, though he didn’t actually try to find employment.

  Fred responded to a classified want ad seeking patients to test anti-anxiety drugs. He signed up in a small clinic in his town. The nice young lady who entered him into the drug testing program hinted that the program was a federal government study, but when he asked with which agency, she glanced around the office and quickly suggested that she had said too much. She then told Fred he should forget what she had just said and consider that a major drug company was running the tests. Upon Fred asking which company, the response was that she wasn’t allowed to say, in order to “maintain confidentiality”. Fred decided he didn’t really care if the testing program was sponsored by the government or a drug company, just as long as he received in his bank account a direct deposit of three thousand two hundred dollars a month.

  In Fred’s first year or two in the drug program he seemed to do well. The clinic supplied his medications to him when he came to their offices once a week. Employees at the clinic were complimentary of Fred’s stable adjustment to life under the influence of the psychoactive drugs he consumed. At first he was only given three different medications, but the number of pills increased over time, so that now Fred was taking a dozen pills daily. Fred was curious when he started the program as to what they were testing. It was explained to Fred that psychoactive drugs crossed the blood-brain barrier and entered the central nervous system resulting in altering Fred’s mood, perception and behavior. They told Fred they wanted to study new drugs to see which ones worked best on people with psychological issues.

  Though Fred didn’t see himself as particularly a psychologically troubled person, he was aware that life had not always been smooth for him, particularly in his years as a youngster, with significant problems as a teen growing up in a home of regular spousal abuse, ending violently with his mother taking her own life. Fred liked to go to his church, particularly when he seated people and passed out bulletins, years before, as a deacon. But, in the third year of his drug treatment program Fred began to look at things differently. That was the year that Jim (he never did know Jim’s last name) convinced him that the Bible wasn’t reliable. At first Fred resisted Jim’s arguments, which he made every week when he brought Fred’s pills to his house, but eventually Fred saw that Jim wouldn’t give up, so Fred began to agree with Jim.

  At the beginning of Fred’s fifth year in the drug program Jim began to tell Fred, every week, that the people who worked in the gray-stone federal building three miles from his house were evil, even demon possessed, and dangerous to the country. Over time Fred could see that Jim was right. After all, Fred eventually concluded, Jim was his source of medications that made him feel better, as well as income to pay his bills, so why would Jim lie to him? When Jim brought an AR-15 and two Glocks to Fred’s house, so he could “protect himself” from the wicked federal agents, it all made perfect sense to Fred. Somebody had to protect America.

  All that was needed now was Jim’s strong, persuasive suggestion that Fred protect the nation from the evil, demonic beings down the street. Without Fred’s orange pills Jim’s suggestion to Fred would become the command that Fred would willingly fulfill. But first, he needed to write the words on his troubled internet blog, suggested by Jim, which would explain to the world why Fred needed to engage in violence to protect the country. After he posted Jim’s suggested words explaining why “Christian Soldiers” needed to stop evil federal agents, Fred loaded his weapons in the cello case that Jim had supplied. Fred was pleased to see as he loaded the guns in the case that it had wheels at the bottom of the case. That would make it easier for him to take it to the federal building since someone had stolen his car the day before yesterday. Jim had suggested to Fred that the federal agents down the street must be worried about Fred, which is probably why they had stolen his automobile. Unlike everything else Jim told Fred in his unorthodox drug treatment program, Jim’s identification of the identity of the thieves who stole Fred’s car was no lie.

  15

  Offices of Dr. Peter Irwin

  Orlando General Hospital Physician Tower

  Orlando, Florida

  “For I was angry with my chosen people

  and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.

  But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.

  You oppressed even the elderly.” (Isaiah 47:6 – NLT)

  Dr. Irwin welcomed Mark and Sharon Rogers into his office. He was fond of these patients for whom he had provided medical care since soon after he began his practice as an internist in central Florida. Today, though, he wished he could be anywhere else except in his office, knowing the news that he was going to have to convey to the Rogers.

  After offering them coffee and asking them how they were feeling, Dr. Irwin launched into his legally mandated role. “Mark….Sharon….I’m afraid that I don’t have very good news….for you….today. Mark’s application for a pacemaker has been denied.”

  Sharon’s response was instantaneous, as she cried out, “What? Denied? Why? Mark needs a pacemaker. You told us that on our last visit. His tachycardia has only gotten worse. His heart needs to be paced….otherwise….Dr. Irwin….you told us he would only have….”

  “I know, believe me, I know. I stated our application for approval under the Affordable Medical Care Act in the strongest possible terms. The problem is Mark’s age.”

  “His age? He’s only 72. I just read an article that said that 72 is the new 30. Are you saying Mark’s too old to be healed? What kind of governm….”

  Mark listened carefully as his wife and his doctor debated his health. He had read enough about the ‘Death Panels’ set up in the Affordable Medical Care Act to know before his appointment with Dr. Irwin that he was unlikely to be given a pacemaker.

  “Sharon, I want you to calm down. I don’t want you b
lowing a heart valve, okay? Let me explain how this works. When Congress passed the Affordable Medical Care Act they included a section that created a fifteen member panel called the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Under the new law this panel has the authority to make healthcare decisions for Americans, including the rationing of health care. What was recently decided by the panel is that persons over seventy years of age are not to be fitted with pacemakers due to the level of expense involved.”

  Sharon would have none of it, saying sarcastically, “So….Doctor Irwin…. Mark should have had been here two years ago? He should have developed his heart problem earlier so he could get a pacemaker before the deadline? Does that make any sense to you because it sure doesn’t to me.”

  “Look, folks, I don’t like this anymore than you do. I didn’t go to medical school decades ago just so I could tell my patients that can’t receive the medical treatment they need in order to stay alive….that is….Sorry, Mark….I don’t mean to sound….”

  Raising his hand, Mark said slowly, “Oh….Doc….it’s alright…..I know I’m dying….We all die, eventually, right?....I just hate to leave Sharon on her own, when with a few bucks spent by my government I can live for a few years more….and help Sharon….you know….like….” Mark trailed off as tears fell down his face onto his folded hands. Sharon was already crying. It was all that Doctor Irwin could do to avoid tears himself for his long time patients who had become friends.

  Sharon wiped her cheeks and asked, “Doctor Irwin, we don’t have much money, but if we sold everything we had, what would a pacemaker for Mark cost us?”

  “Sharon. Mark. The law and the regs won’t allow you to do that. Once a patient passes a certain age, then certain medical treatments are no longer provided by the government. Nor, I’m very sorry to say, are they allowed to be obtained by the over-age patient, even with the patient’s own money.”

  “Doctor,” Sharon sobbed, “that’s a death sentence.

  “Yes, Sharon, I’m afraid you’re correct. A death sentence, indeed.”

  16

  Small Group Bible Study, Home of Hannah & Gary

  Birmingham, Alabama

  After opening prayer Scott kicked off their small group’s Bible study, “I’ve really been looking forward with anticipation to tonight’s study, guys. The key to what the Bible may be telling us about our country is contained in the thirty clues He gives us as to the identity of Mystery Babylon. You know from your lesson prep that the author in The End of America identifies twenty-one identity clues and nine abomination nation clues. We’ll study the twenty-one identity clues tonight. The way I see this is that if the United States matches these clues that will tell us a lot about our future. On the other hand, we want to know the truth, so if America doesn’t match up with these clues, if they apply to another nation, or a church, or whatever, then we can forget it. And, if so….”

  Beau interrupted, “Sorry, Scott, I just wanted to interject something. You mentioned that these clues might apply to a church. Until this study I always thought they referred to the Catholic Church. My research, though, which is mentioned also in the book, is that the application to the Catholic Church started in 1858 in a book by a Rev. Hislop entitled The Two Babylons. I found the book, which is in re-print. Hislop starts by applying just one of the thirty clues, the one about Babylon dwelling on seven high mountains. Then, now follow this, he says the verse actually says seven hills, not mountains, that there are seven hills in Rome and that the Vatican is located in Rome. From that one clue he argues for the entire balance of the book against the Catholic Church, without ever touching another clue. And he even got that single clue wrong as the word used for mountains is the same one that’s used when Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain to tempt Him. A hill? I don’t think so. I’ve been to Rome and those hills are only that, certainly not high mountains.”

  Waiting patiently for Beau to finish, Scott said, “Good. OK, Beau, I was going to mention that for the last 150 years or so most Christians, Protestants, at least, thought that the Daughter of Babylon was the Catholic Church. Your research helps us get a grip on that misapplication. I’ll not mention anymore that the clues might apply to a church. They clearly don’t. There are several references in these prophetic verses to cities within a nation. Babylon the Great must be a country, a nation, not a church. I assume that we’ve all read the clue verses to prepare for tonight. The verses identifying the identity of the Daughter of Babylon/Babylon the Great are:

  Psalm 137:8

  Isaiah 13; 21:1-10; 47 and 48

  Jeremiah 50 and 51

  Zechariah 2:7

  Revelation 17 and 18

  Scott continued, “In deciding how best to look at the twenty-one identity clues, I concluded that I’d pass out the list of the twenty-one identity clues and ask you to pick out the clues that struck you, the ones that jumped out as clearly applying to our country, to America. Here are the twenty-one identity clues.” Scott passed the list around the family room. The pass out sheet listed these clues:

  1. Is the Daughter the Same as the Mother?

  2. The Hammer of the Whole Earth

  3. A Latter Day Nation

  4. A Nation of Wealth and Luxury

  5. A Multi-Nation ‘Melting Pot’ of a Nation

  6. You Who Live on Many Waters

  7. Center of World Commerce

  8. The Great Voice

  9. They Are Mad Upon Their Idols

  10. The Daughter of Babylon Mounts Up to the Heavens

  11. Where the Nations Gather

  12. She Has Been Proud Against the Lord

  13. Large Jewish Population

  14. Deep Water Port Nation

  15. The Kings of the Medes Won’t Destroy Themselves

  16. A Land of Entertainment

  17. Historical Babylon is Gone and Won’t be Back

  18. Who sits on the Seven Continents of the Earth?

  19. Ancient Babylon has already been Punished

  20. Past Use by God of the Daughter of Babylon

  21. Which Nations are sworn to Defend Israel?

  Scott allowed a minute for everyone to look over the list and then said, “Who’ll be first? Which one of these twenty-clues identifying Mystery Babylon jumps out at you as clearly applying to America?”

  Hannah, who along with Gary was active in their local Tea Party was first, saying, “Scott, as for me they look like they all could apply. I’ll leave the clues about ancient Babylon and all that to you and Max, but I had trouble deciding which ones were most descriptive of the US. Take for example the hammer of the whole earth clue. Who could that possibly apply to except America? We’re the world’s policeman. We spend more than anybody on our military. I googled it and found that the US has over eight hundred military bases around the globe. Who else has military bases outside their own nation? The Brits may have still have a base in the Falklands, I’m not sure.”

  Tom added, “Russia had a temporary naval base on the coast in Syria a while back, but they closed it down. Their other military bases, I’m sure, are all in their homeland. France, Italy, Germany? None of these formerly great powers have a military presence on bases outside their own borders. So, I agree with Hannah that the hammer of the whole earth clue certainly would apply to America.”

  Scott asked, “Agreed. Next?”

  Gary held up his hand and said, “At the risk of being labeled the Hannah and Gary Show, I feel that the Jewish population clue was amazing. God knew hundreds, thousands, of years ago that in the end times there would be a major nation that would be home to a significant Jewish population in addition to Israel. I typed in Jewish population and learned that the US has about five and a quarter million Jewish residents and Israel has a slightly larger but similar number. The next closest is France with under a half a million, Canada with a third of a million, Britain with a quarter million, and on down from there. So there are only two nations with significant Jewish population, Israel and the United States. That clu
e squarely applies to the US.”

  “Also agreed. Next clue?”

  Max, looking at his iPad, said, “Actually, I came up with three that I thought were all related and which blew me away: first, a nation of wealth and luxury; second, the center of world commerce; and third, where the nations gather. Let’s face it. The US is the world’s richest nation. We consume more of the world’s good and services, disproportionately. By that I mean that we have about 5% of the world’s population but we consume about 25% or so of the world’s stuff. Jeremiah said that the Daughter of Babylon would be rich in treasures. That prophecy, from 2500 years or so ago is sure spot on for America. As for the center of world commerce clue, I was struck by this one as we are clearly where the world comes to buy, sell and exchange commodities, food, precious metals, you name it. Lastly, the US is where the nations of the world stream to meet as Jeremiah prophesied. Besides the League of Nations, which used to meet in Switzerland and which is now defunct, the US is the only place where the nations gather to meet. At the United Nations, of course.”

  Tom followed Max’s comments, “Max, those hit me, too, but you can also add to those three clues the multi-nation melting pot of a nation clue. Who else but the US was populated by immigrants from many other nations? And, while I’m still talking….which I know….I know….I don’t do much in these studies….but….there are two water clues that struck me. The clue that said that Babylon the Great would be located on deep water sea ports and the other clue that said the nation sits on many waters. All nations have lakes and rivers, and all that, but they don’t all have deep water sea ports. Plus, I looked it up….hush up, Marty….I do research sometimes….What I found was that the Great Lakes themselves are 20% of the world’s fresh water lakes. Yet our land mass is about 6% of the world’s total land mass. Those prophecies impressed me.”