January 7, 2008
GW

The radio crackled to life.

"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. 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 it 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 a 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. 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. Any place 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 want 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 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 O.K. I'll come back and tell you."

"And what if you can't come back? Do you really want to leave Kathy and the others 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."

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 dieing, that had always been the problem, but just like those Jews from Warsaw, these stupid Christians were like horses running back into a burning barn. All you had to have was someone to say the right words.

Clarie 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 govt. said to do, by quoting verses from that hated book, the Bible.

Best of all, his superiors were much less upset at his earlier problems. Yes indeed. Things were starting to good 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.

---

"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 effects 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."

"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."

"Just kidding, Dad."

"Old dogs?" Tim asked.

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

GW, Vietnam Vet