Read The Last Stand (Book 3) (The Repentant Demon Trilogy) Online
Authors: Samantha Johns
The Last Stand (Book 3) (The Repentant Demon Trilogy) (26 page)
“And there's our next mission,” said the General. “We need to dismantle our government so we can start a new one.”
“How do we do that?” asked Rick.
“First off,” he replied, expecting skeptism, “we need to fire a bunker buster bomb into the Underground White House.”
When his sugesstion was met with hi-fives and cheers, he was relieved and a bit surprised. He thought to himself that although he had known the President had not been popular among the military, especially in his second term, he hadn't known he was this despised. But he didn't know what most of the group knew. That he actually was the anti-Christ. They wanted nothing more than to blow him to oblivion.
“So are we actually going to use the MOAB?” said Stephen, enthusiastically.
“How do you know about that, young man?” asked the General, amused.
“Because its the biggest and best bomb that we've got,” he said. “Everyone I know thinks it's the coolest. It's the Mother Of All Bombs.
“Well I'm one up on you, partner,” said Sebastian, “but of course I have access to sources you and your friends do not. We have one a third bigger and badder than that now, the MOP. Guess where it is. Whiteman AFB near Kansas City. If their attempts with nuclear suitcase bombs had been successful, that installation might have been destroyed. Fortunatly, it was spared.
“Would you like me to put you through to them, Sir?” he said, addressing the General, “ So you can give the order.”
“As quickly as you can, Sebastian,” he said, “connect me with the commander there. We need to do this before the S.O.B. tries something else. He could send something from Russia or somewhere. We've got to show the world we've discovered the snake in the henhouse, and we've got to chop off its head.”
The room watched with both horror and wonder as the large red dot traveled in a straight line toward the Underground White House from Kansas. Who would have imagined they'd ever witness such a thing, they thought, much less have a part in making it happen. As the red dot hit its target it expanded into dark red and maroon concentric circles then diminished to a size that covered barely more than the boundaries of D.C. itself.
“What does that mean?” asked Cal, “the way it blew up then shrunk again.”
“Although it's equipped with a nuclear warhead,” said Sebastian, “it's designed with the bomb at the front end, keeping almost all the nuclear fallout inside the cavity created by the blast.”
“What about the Middle-eastern countries, Russia, and Mexico, and any other nations that were his allies?” asked Rick.
“I think they're probably shaking in their boots,” commented Nathan. “We're back.”
“That's pretty much it,” said the General. “We'll have to deal with them, of course. But they've lost the war. I can expect Europe is ready to change its ways. But our foreign relations will be up to the new leadership, which you're probably looking at right here.” He was directing a moving pointed finger at Cal, Rick, Nathan, Jerry, Brady, Joseph Talbot, and Sebastian. Then jokingly, he spun around and pointed right into little Stephen's nose. The boy jumped before he realized the humor in it, and everyone laughed. Laughing was only one of the things they did not think they would do on this day.
The group took the elevator together to the dormitory floor and pushed Cal to make the announcements to the community. They stood him upon a chair so that he could be seen and heard. He told them the events that had happened, then that they could return to their homes and begin making plans for the future of America.
“Now that you know everything that has happened,” Cal continued, “we need to plan wisely for the future. Although it may seem backwards, we have won the war, but we will still have battles to fight. There are still those in this world who would work against our interests, though they may not be the Evil Incarnate. There are still obstacles to our peaceful world. We need to be vigilant about never again allowing God to be shut out from our daily lives whether public or private. We need to stand for what is right no matter how persuasive the alternative might be.
“And eventually, we will reclaim all of our land. It will take time, probably years, but as the radiation dies down, we will be able to send crews into the east. As our population grows, we will venture gradually back to the states beyond the Mississippi. We will go there, bury the dead, get the power back on, clean up the debris, and re-build. We will hold elections, we will re-instate our Constitution and rebuild our future.”
Cheers came that embarrassed him. The group headed home and immediately began preparing a huge feast at the large outdoor cooking area. When the kids moaned some disspointment at losing the recreation area and the pool, Cal suggested they leave the doors open, now that danger had passed, and they set up a shuttle service to take commuters back and forth from the facility to the neighborhood.
The massive government computer network was used to set up a communications base. It established a defense system among the military bases, monitored the satellites, and helped in the organization of a civilian government to replace Washington D.C. With Sebastian's help they were able to transfer banking accounts back to the proper people, and business was able to begin again in Pinedale and the surrounding towns. Many who came from there were able to return home and re-establish a degree of normality. Accounts belonging to the deceased without heirs were placed in a treasury and a monetary system was established so that loans could be made for small businesses, and to provide some government services.
Abigail helped to set up a school for the children in the community. She used the Internet to coordinate with the families of people on the military bases throughout the west. The only places where living people survived. Online classes were set up to accomodate areas where teachers could not be found. Abigail also created a course in Biblical Archealogy and looked forward to the day when it would be safe to excavate again in the Middle East. Now there was no one to stop them. Mutually assured destruction had taken care of that. The area from Israel to eastern Africa to China remained a black hole. They only needed to wait for the radiation to dissipate before exploration there could begin and the land could be re-claimed. Stephen became Abby's star pupil. She promised to take him along when they were again able to enter that land.
Cal arranged to have the chain link fencing around Willow Creek removed, and hunting began again, as well as an expanded road system leading to other lakes and ponds for fishing and recreation. They planted fruit trees in an orchard that separated the town from the two hills where the cabins were standing. This restored some sense of the original ranch-style resort that Brady and Uma had loved so much. It was still a mountain retreat. Only now there were a lot more people in it. Rick Foley re-recorded the deed away from the government and back to the McFarlands. It didn't matter any more, for all practical purposes, but Brady appreciated the gesture and framed the deed for display in his den. Willow Creek was becoming a town, actually the capitol of a new nation. But Brady still had a ranch to call his own. A cattle ranch operated under his own guidelines which treated the animals humanely with dignity and kindness.
Uma had suggested that she and Brady switch cabins with the Callahans to allow for their expanding family, sure to be a large brood, if not a dozen, as she hoped. The two of them no longer needed all the space in the lodge. But Abby had fallen in love with their cabin, and Cal had plenty of volunteers who would help them add an upper floor which would give them more space and compliment the rustic style that was so charming. They even erected a rustic log fence outside the back door making a small enclosure big enough for Angel to have a little yard where she could run, play, and poop in safety. Bears can climb trees, a well as fences, but this one was safe because along the top was a barely visible electric wire with high enough voltage to discourage even the largest bear from attempting to grab their little fluffball.
Cal was confused that in the end the rulership of God over the earth had not been established exactly as he imagined from his reading of Biblical prophesy. Abby thought she understood it and shared her explanation, one that made sense to her.
“If the Evil One had won, earth would have become a bastion of Satan, and he would have ruled over humans as a supreme dictator. But God doesn't work that way. He likes human beings to have freedom, and with it the freedom to choose good over evil. So we will always struggle against temptation as we have from the very beginning since the original Adam and Eve. What we have won in this war is the ability to have God in our lives, the opportunity to live for God, and the joy of having the blessings he sends us every day of our lives.”
General Monahan returned to his ranch in Texas to the arms of his loving wife Sarah and his prized Appaloosas. Cal and Abby visited him often in her Cessna. They brought little Jonah along and introduced him to the horses. The General became the head of the military establishment, although he ran it from the computer in his den. He was one man who knew what to do to preserve the security of the new nation.
God had indeed destroyed the nations who had attacked Israel. The European countries survived with great losses in their populations due to the fallout which was nearly world-wide. They reconstructed their governments along the same guidelines as the United States, and their Muslim communities resolved to live in peace with their neighbors in the wake of the destruction of their homelands. Russian leadership was overthrown. The people revolted when they learned what their leaders had done. They elected a new president who established a more democratic union and they restored the ancient churches which had long been closed for centuries during the communist atheist regime. Hundreds of thousands of believers came out of hiding and the Vatican sent them priests to serve their needs.
Cuba and Mexico had defined themselves as enemies of the United States. But without the backing of Russia and the Arab countries, they were powerless to do any harm. In their impotent state, they too were overpowered by the hoards of common people who had ancestral ties to Catholicism. In time, diplomatic relations with these nations might make them friends again.
In the days and weeks that followed, both Ruthie and Jodie discovered they were pregnant again, and many in the new community decided to have babies as well. The Edwards and Deckers were able to build nice houses with the scenic views they had envisioned, and they donated their RV's to the cause of the teams who ventured back to the eastern states to reclaim and repurpose the land.
These scouting expeditions were set up to venture into the nearby portions of the country looking for survivors and scavaging equipment and incidentals that they used to help build a town from their little settlement. Teams went with them to help restore homes and businesses there.
Though reluctant to do so, Cal accepted their overwhelming pleas to run for office, and he was elected President of the New United States of America. A monetary system was established restoring a banking network, as well as a functioning stock market and futures market to help businesses grow and flourish.
The new government rules were not so oppressive as some had feared they might be having had a military-based beginning. Rick Foley was placed in charge of setting up a police force, and his personality had transformed dramatically. Of course, the war had changed all of them, but in Rick's case there was more involved. Cal showed him the replay of the mysterious disintegrating red dot, blowing it up and enhancing the colors until Rick eventually saw the angels. He saw them, and it made him a believer. Once he could see it with his own eyes, he accepted what he hadn't been able to see—that Cal had indeed been a repentant demon, the former demon Calumnius.
The End.
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