Times of Tribulation: Christian End Times Thriller (The End Times Saga, #7) (11 page)

The Priestess mostly tolerated Wayne. They were two childhood acquaintances who had mutual friends, but they never really became friends themselves, even when they went out together on a couple dates in high school. With this position of responsibility Edwards now had, plus the fact that she would be working with Wayne more than she had ever wanted, she knew she had to play nice. However, if he wanted more from her than she was willing to give, she would refuse anything beyond eating dinner together. “Thank you for the confidence you had in my abilities to get the job done, Wayne. As for dinner, I’m starving, so let’s go get something to eat.”

Chapter 11

Sitting in a jail cell in San Antonio, Dave Abbott waited for his kangaroo trial. With all his heart, Dave believed that Jesus died for his sins and that he would go to Heaven to be with his Savior when he died. However, he wasn’t entirely sure he was okay with being a martyr, but realized it was his own fault that he hadn’t found Christ before the Rapture of the church.

He prayed: “Heavenly Father, I thank you for letting me find you during this time. Please help me to say the right things when I’m on trial and help me to be strong when they execute me. I look forward to praising and worshipping you when I finally make it to Heaven. Thank you for all you have done for me. Thy will be done, amen.”

While Dave waited for his trial, he had no choice but to watch his friends get hunted down, since the security forces who ran the prison had control over the televisions in each cell. Dave was glad that the women who were being hunted had faith in God, since they met their fate with acceptance, and he hoped their attitudes affected others who were on the fence about not joining the global community. Dave also watched the beheadings from Kyle Field with sadness, but knew he’d see them again when he was executed.

His moment finally came when security took him out of his cell and walked him to a van that was waiting to take him to the courthouse. Outside, there was only one camera crew, but no reporter, and no onlookers seemed to be gathering to watch Dave being sent to trial. While in jail, the authorities hadn’t let him have a Bible, so Dave wasn’t entirely sure if he’d be able to defend himself properly, since he hadn’t been able to memorize as many verses from the Bible as he would’ve liked.
I’ll just have to let go and let God, that’s the only way I know of to defend myself,
he thought while being put inside the van. Minutes later, the van was driven to the county courthouse.

Administrator Davis watched on television the prisoner being escorted to the courthouse. Thinking there was something missing from this prisoner transfer, Wayne called up the head of the region’s security forces, “Director Stephens, this is Administrator Davis. Are you available to talk?”

“Yes, sir. What can I help you with?”

“I wanted to talk to you about future prisoner transfers, which I’ll pass on to Patriarch Karimi if you think it’s a good idea. I think we ought to have good, loyal citizens gather around these transfers and start harassing the prisoner or prisoners before they’re driven to their court date. Get a group hyped up to begin yelling at the prisoner and have them throw fruits, vegetables, or even rocks at the vans holding the prisoners. Make the prisoner think the crowd wants to tear them apart then and there, before they even get to the courthouse. Maybe this’ll have the prisoner so frightened, they’ll beg to be part of the global community. What do you think?”

“I think that’s an interesting idea, Administrator. I’ll have to study on it a bit, run some scenarios before I have my people do anything about it, but I do think it’ll ramp up the feeling of hopelessness these prisoners might feel, and it might cause them to do anything to be part of our community again. Do you have a time table when you’d like this done, sir?”

“No, just let me know when you begin to implement the idea. Peace and blessings, Director Stephens.”

“To you too, Administrator.”

At the courthouse, a reporter for UETN’s North America division intercepted Dave and his guards before they went in the courtroom. “Mr. Abbott, I’m Tyler Sizemore from UETN. Do you plan on recanting your beliefs so you can join the global community in peace, harmony, and unity?”

“No,”

“Why not?”

“You’ll find out when they put me on the stand, Mr. Sizemore.” The guards escorted Dave into the courtroom before Sizemore could ask anything else.

The guards escorted Dave to his chair and forced him to sit. Looking around, the gallery was partially filled with onlookers, there was no jury, and he could see that the prosecutor was fully ready. Not having a jury of his peers bothered him, but Dave also realized he had no lawyer to defend him, so he asked his guards, “Don’t I get a lawyer?”

The four men looked at each other with questioning looks, but before they could reply, the prosecutor came over, and said, “This isn’t United States law, Mr. Abbott. As far as the authorities are concerned, you’ve already been found guilty. My superiors just want me to interrogate, I mean interview, you on live television, so all the region can see what nutty beliefs you have. I’m sure the uninformed are probably curious to see if you’ll recant, but you and I both know that you won’t. Any two bit prosecutor could do this, but they wanted me to do it, so I’ll give the powers-that-be what they want.” He glanced at his old fashioned pocket watch for the time. “I wish the judge would hurry up, I have other things to do.”

The judge came out of his chambers five minutes later, the bailiff told everyone to stand, and when the judge sat down, so did everyone else. The judge looked like he was reading something from the sound of shuffling paper, then he looked up, and said, “Okay, this looks like a fairly straightforward trial. Prosecutor Kirkpatrick, you may proceed.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. We’re here today to ask this man, Dave Abbott, why he doesn’t support the global community and why he doesn’t follow Patriarch Karimi as his leader. Whether he gets beheaded depends on him, but the outcome is clear, since we all know what his answer will be. Time after time, this man has been given every opportunity to recant, but he hasn’t, and this time appears to be no different. Now, though, in this court, he will give us his reasons for not recanting. Mr. Abbott, please take the stand,”

Dave got up, went to the stand, and waited to be sworn in, but no one approached him to swear him in. Kirkpatrick approached the stand, and said, “We all know your name, so what I want to know is why you resist joining the global community,”

“I resist because of what the Bible says. In the book of Revelation, it describes world events and the man who will lead the world during these events. I also resist because Christ is my Savior and He died for my sins. If I had known before this period of time about Christ, I would’ve asked Him into my heart to save me so I could avoid the disasters and the oncoming disasters that we’ll see in the years to come. Make no mistake about it, the Patriarch will be responsible for billions of deaths over the next six years and there will be war the likes of which this planet has never seen,”

“So, you’re telling us that you’re basing your immovability on following the Patriarch because of what some book tells you? A book, may I remind the audience, that’s more than likely a collection of fairy tales,”

“Well, yes and no. The Bible is not a collection of fairy tales, its actual history, mostly of the Jews, plus prophecy. The prophecy says that in the end times, a beast, called the Anti-Christ, and a false prophet will come and claim they can save the world by making peace with everyone, which includes Israel. I believe this beast to be Patriarch Karimi. As you can see, he’s already making all sorts of promises, but I can guarantee he’ll break each and every one before the seven years are up. He won’t be able to prevent a single disaster or judgment and will only make things worse,”

“So you say, Mr. Abbott. If the Patriarch is responsible for whatever disasters you say he’s responsible for, does the near destruction of North America from volcanoes and the destruction of one-third of the Pacific and its life make him responsible? After all, while the Patriarch is a powerful man, where would he have the power to make a volcano come to life that was eventually supposed to go off anyway? I also recall that the Chinese were the ones bringing that asteroid to Earth so it could be parked in orbit, not the Patriarch. Why aren’t they at fault for that disaster?”

“God used the Chinese to bring the asteroid to Earth to fulfill the prophecy in Revelation. Yellowstone finally blew up to fulfill prophecy, since the beast, Patriarch Karimi, divided the world into ten regions and says he’s bringing peace to our world. The God of Heaven wants to show everyone on Earth who has the power, and it’s definitely not Patriarch Karimi,”

“If your God is so powerful, why is He not here defending you or even removing you from this situation? Surely He can spare someone to send down here to defend you, like himself, for instance. Where is He, Mr. Abbott?”

“Where is He? He’s everywhere, Mr. Kirkpatrick. Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean He’s not there or here. During this time, He will show his power through natural disasters and then through judgments on mankind itself. He helps me speak, but He doesn’t need to be here physically to help me. Even if He were to appear, it says in the Bible that many will refuse to listen and will continue to curse Him. You may try to shake my faith, but you will not succeed, Mr. Kirkpatrick,”

“Yes, yes, I see your faith is unshakable. So, am I correct in assuming you’ll die for your beliefs?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I see. Very well. Your Honor, since it would be of no use to continue to question this witness, I’m done here.”

“Hmm, that didn’t take long. Mr. Abbott, you do understand the consequences of what’ll happen to you if you don’t recant, correct?”

“Sure I do. I accept whatever punishment the powers-that-be decide to put me through. God is my rock and I’ll lean on Him through whatever happens.”

“Uh, right. Okay, there is only one punishment for the crimes Mr. Abbott has been charged with – death by beheading. Mr. Abbott will be put to death before the week is out. This trial is over.” The judge banged his gavel and left for his chambers.

The guards indicated to Dave to go with them out of the courtroom. While walking out to the parking lot, Dave was met by the reporter, who asked, “So, Mr. Abbot, you’re completely okay with being beheaded? That seems kind of nuts to me,”

“Yes, I’m okay with it, because the Lord Jesus Christ is my rock, and with Him in charge I don’t need to be afraid. In fact, being put to death because I believe in Him is an honor. I can see by your tattoos that you’re committed to the global community, so you wouldn’t understand now if I tried. Are you curious about anything else, Mr. Sizemore?”

“No, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. In spite of your sentence, I wish peace and blessings on you, Mr. Abbott. Good day.” Sizemore extended his hand and Dave shook it, and then the reporter left.

Two days later, Dave was escorted to the Alamo Dome, where his execution would take place in front of another thousand or so people and would be broadcast again across the region. He found out they were having a pre-execution concert with assorted rock bands, including his daughter’s favorite singer, Justin Riggs. Before the announcement was made for Dave to be escorted to the field for his beheading, Priestess Edwards came to him to talk to him about something. “Hey, Mr. Abbott, you’ll never guess who we have here who will watch your execution in person,”

“Oh, I don’t know, Lucifer himself?”

Her eyes widened, not expecting sarcasm from the condemned man, but she replied, “No, silly, Patriarch Karimi has decided to attend, including High Priest Josten. Isn’t that an honor?”

“Maybe for you, but I could do without the so-called honor,”

She made what sounded to Dave like a growling sound, and then replied, “Contrarians like you is what was wrong with the world the way it was, but the Patriarch is remaking the world for the better. Well, anyway, looks like it’s time to bring you out for your execution.” Edwards quickly left Dave’s side so she could begin the proceedings.

“Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin, I’d like to introduce two special guests who decided to make a personal appearance. One of them is the leader of the global community of the Union of United Earth, Patriarch Karimi. The other is High Priest Josten of the Universal Congregation Church. Join me in welcoming them to our special event.”

The crowd, even though it didn’t fill the stands to the rafters, stood up and cheered as loudly as they possibly could. Patriarch Karimi and High Priest Josten stood up and waved to the crowd, taking in the adulation of this adoring crowd. When both of them finally sat down, Priestess Edwards began speaking again, “Now, join me in welcoming the condemned, Dave Abbott. Gentlemen, please escort him to the guillotine.”

As soon as the crowd saw Dave, they rained down boos on him, some even had tomatoes and other vegetables with them, and attempted to hit him with the produce, but they missed. Dave was more amused by the reactions than he was frightened by them. He saw the guillotine, all cleaned up with a spotlight shining down on it, and he wondered why the Patriarch wanted to go with such a low tech killing machine when there were so many more other creative ways to kill people nowadays. But, John said in Revelation that the beast would use beheading as punishment, so Dave decided he shouldn’t question God’s plan.

The guards put Dave on the guillotine, face up, and he assumed that he was supposed to be more frightened by the prospect of seeing the blade behead him. Instead, he prayed and leaned on God for support. He heard Priestess Edwards talking, but didn’t really hear what she said, and then the next thing he knew, he was dead. Now, all his soul had to do was wait for the end of the Tribulation and Christ’s return.

Pete Robertson, his wife, and the other Preppers in Big Bend watched the beheadings, appalled with what they were seeing. “What gives them the right to do that, including the gall to make the whole spectacle as if it’s entertainment?” asked Janet the night of Dave’s beheading.