Times of Tribulation: Christian End Times Thriller (The End Times Saga, #7) (6 page)

Suddenly, Ryan felt the earth moving, and it wasn’t a mild earthquake that he and every other resident of L.A. usually felt, this one was a serious earthquake. While tempted to go inside to a safer spot than where he was, Ryan was shocked to see the skyscrapers downtown start collapsing. He could only think:
They’re not supposed to do that! I thought those buildings were designed to withstand anything. I hope my wife wasn’t anywhere near there. I wish this shaking would hurry up and end already.

His jaw dropped as he watched a large fracture open up in the ground not very far from the base of the hill his house sat on, with buildings falling into it, headed his way. The sky became darker with menacing clouds, since Ryan had no idea that volcanoes were going off around California because of the violent way Yellowstone erupted. Before he could do anything, his house began collapsing around him, while slowly sliding down the hill because the earth beneath no longer supported the house. The fast moving fracture opened up in front of the sliding house and Ryan Whittier went with his house down into the crack in the Earth, cursing and blaspheming God as he went, never to be seen or heard from again. In downtown L.A., Tori was signing a book when the building collapsed on her with no warning, along with the many hundreds of people waiting for her autograph. There were no survivors. After the earthquake destroyed L.A., the ash from the volcanoes in the area buried the remains of the city, killing everyone else the earthquake hadn’t killed.

In Big Bend, the Robertson’s felt the earthquakes, although the quake wasn’t as strong as the earth shaking further north, but their buildings underground were setup to withstand the force of a nuclear bomb and could withstand the shaking. After twenty minutes, the shaking finally stopped, so Pete and the others went above ground to see what kind of damage the earthquake caused.

As far as any of them could tell, the landscape around them hadn’t been seriously harmed, but they did see dark clouds on the horizon, west and south of them. Before too long, Dale Larson, one of the men who kept the ham radio operating, found his way to Pete, and said, “According to reports, Yellowstone blew up, causing fault lines and once dormant volcanoes across the former United States to activate. A great majority of the continent has been destroyed, hundreds of millions are dead, while leaving a few areas where it’s still habitable, mostly in the extreme southern portions of the former United States,”

“Do you know if the internet is still up? Maybe we could go online to see what’s going on,” asked Pete.

“Right now, we have no internet, possibly because the main networks are down, but I don’t know for sure. Really, the only tool we have to find out what’s going on in the outside world is the ham radio, Pete,”

“All right. Well, try to find out everything that’s goin’ on and we’ll do our best to plan around the information.”

“Okay, I’ll get right on that.”

Pete ran his fingers through his hair and whistled, knowing that whatever happened, he and his people were going to have work to do. He figured the work would consist of trying to keep out of sight of the Union of United Earth, because the government would probably try to evaluate all the viable land that hadn’t been hit hard by the earthquakes and volcanoes, so the land could be put to good use. This included where his Prepper group was, if the government looked hard enough, that is. Then Pete figured the government would probably make the survivors clean up the mess, and he had no intention of being made a slave to the government.

“All right, everyone, let’s get back to our hole in the ground, and let’s make sure all traces of our being here are as minimized as possible. Come on, hurry it up!” Pete ordered, as everyone went to work.

Chapter 6

In the headquarters of the Union of United Earth, Wayne found people headed in every direction as he made his way to Karimi's office. The news that his homeland had been hit with a devastating disaster worried him and he hoped he could help with the recovery.  Wayne finally came to the outer office of Karimi's office where the Patriarch's secretary was.

“Hi, how can I help you?”

“I'd like to talk to Patriarch Karimi about a job with his administration, possibly with the new North American region,”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but I'm sure he'll see me once he finds out I'm here,”

“Who are you?”

“I'm Wayne Davis, former mayor of Dallas.”

“Okay, let me see if the Patriarch's available.”

The secretary went into the office to speak to the Patriarch. Less than five minutes later, the secretary came back out, and said to Wayne, “The Patriarch will see you now.”

“Thanks.”

Wayne walked into Karimi's office, not sure what he should expect. He saw an office that was nicer than anything he'd ever seen, with a bookshelf along one wall, a window lining the wall behind the desk, and the impression of power the office itself portrayed.

The Patriarch stood up, went around the desk, and extended his hand to Wayne. “Welcome, Mr. Davis. I’m sorry about what happened to your homeland,”

Wayne took the Patriarch’s hand and shook it. “Thank you, sir. I’m sorry to have heard about that happening too,”

“So, what can I help you with?”

“Well, to come to the point, I'd like a job within your administration, if there's one available, preferably with the North American region, maybe helping with the recovery or wherever I’m needed.”

Karimi liked Wayne already. He liked people who took initiative, which was rare these days. “While you know the position for North American administrator is filled, I can offer you a position that oversees how Powell and his people use their resources. It would also involve paying attention to anything that might come up that Powell and his people may ignore or overlook. How does that sound to you, Mr. Davis?”

“I think I'd like the position you're offering, sir. I will have no problem accepting it. Thank you.”

“You're very welcome, Mr. Davis. I'll set you up with an office and you’ll get the details of what I'd like for you to do within the day. Leave a phone number with my secretary and we'll call you when your job is ready to begin. I look forward to working with you.” Karimi extended his hand for a handshake and Wayne took it. Wayne left the office, eager to start his new job.

The next day, Wayne received a PDF in his email that elaborated on his new job, which was everything Karimi told him he would be doing. Wayne printed out his job description, which came to fifteen pages. The email also said that his office would be ready by the end of the week. Sitting down on his sofa with the PDF in hand, Wayne set to work on learning all he could about his newest job.

A few days later, Wayne got the call to report to his new office the next Monday so he could start work. The previous day he watched the news from North America with morbid fascination as they showed the destruction the volcanoes and earthquakes had caused. The great cities of the continent, at least those nearest the eruptions and major fault lines, collapsed, killing millions in minutes, and looking like an atomic bomb had gone off. Other cities further away from the major catastrophes had suffered damage from the ash and other dangerous elements from the volcanoes, earthquakes from smaller fault lines that activated from the shockwaves from the major faults, and even major flooding from rivers, lakes, and ocean water flooding the cities closest to those bodies of water.

Most of the footage of the disaster had come from drones, which were remotely controlled from the North American headquarters in Puerto Rico. Powell’s people had discovered that less than one hundred thousand people survived the disaster, mostly from south Texas all the way to the whole state of Florida, so attempts were currently being made to help the survivors and to figure out how to start using what was left of the viable land so everyone that was left in the North American region could eat. Patriarch Karimi wasn’t one of those leaders who would expend the resources of other regions to help the others, they had to figure it out on their own. Wayne felt he was fortunate to work for a man like Karimi.

Reporting to work on Monday, Wayne found that he liked his new office. The desk chair was comfortable, the lighting in the office was perfect, and it had a generally relaxed atmosphere. He turned on his computer to access the daily reports, which mostly consisted of the emails from those people who worked for Powell and were supposed to give a daily report on what they were doing and how they accomplished each goal they set out to do. Powell was supposed to submit what he spent on resources and how close he was to accomplishing a goal that Karimi had set for all the regions. So far, Powell hadn’t submitted anything of note.
Maybe he’s just busy, they did just have a disaster after all.
Davis thought as he began perusing the emails.

Wayne came upon an email, from a General Juan Calderon of Cuba. The General had a complaint:

To: Head Office of North America

CC: Union of United Earth Security

From: General Juan Calderon, Cuba Militia

To Whom It May Concern,

I’m writing this email today to issue a formal complaint about the head of this region, Steve Powell. Mr. Powell is not doing what I believe the Patriarch sent him to do, and that is reorganize this region under the banner of the Union of United Earth.

I believe Mr. Powell is going rogue by trying to run this region his own way. He has reactivated an old Mint left by the United States in Puerto Rico and is trying to re-establish the dollar for all of North America. He has suspended the program that will have people getting the mark of commerce, even though I know the program is strictly voluntary at the moment. The list of violations Mr. Powell commits is increasing with each passing week.

I hope you do something about this before it is too late. Thank you and I hope the Patriarch blesses all of us during this transition to peace, harmony, and unity.

Sincerely,

Juan Calderon

Wayne read the email twice more, not entirely knowing what he should do next. He knew that the U.E.’s security office would take something like this very seriously, and they probably had an agent tasked to monitor the situation. Wayne figured he should stick to his assigned task and not get in the way of an official investigation into Powell’s missteps. Saving the email, Wayne continued on to the next email, which was from the Haitian governor, detailing what resources they used during the rescue operations of the North American mainland.

After reading the reports from everyone in charge of something in the North American region, Wayne understood why Powell wanted to begin printing money, but he felt that the way the administrator went about it was all wrong. Powell should’ve had the full permission of the Patriarch before activating the Mint, and now, Powell was a target because of this unsanctioned activity. Wayne knew that if he was in charge, everything he did would be done with the approval of the Patriarch in mind. If the Patriarch disapproved, Wayne would do his best to follow the Patriarch’s wishes. So far, Powell hadn’t done that. Wayne decided to think about how he could turn this to his advantage.

Before too long, rumors about replacing Powell were circulating around the Union of United Earth’s headquarters and Wayne made sure to follow what was going on. The head of security for the U.E., Ahmed Sayeed, launched an official investigation into Administrator Powell’s leadership capabilities. Less than three weeks later, Sayeed went to the Patriarch to tell him what was going on with the North American administrator. Before Wayne could find out the latest about the situation, he was called to the Patriarch’s office.

Wayne rushed to the Patriarch’s office, and as he walked in, he tried not to appear too eager for whatever the leader of the world wanted from him. “You called for me, Patriarch?”

“Yes, I did, Mr. Davis. Soon, there’s going to be a change in leadership in the North America region and I’d like you to become the Administrator for the region. How would you like that?”

“I think I’d like that very much, Your Excellency. When would you like me to take over the position?”

“There’s a military operation about to be under way that will arrest Powell and his subordinates, and I want you to be there to witness the operation. Once Powell is out of the way, you have permission to take over. If you have any ideas about trying to do things your own way, you can bury those thoughts right now, because you will be treated exactly the same as Mr. Powell. Do I make myself clear?”

“I understand, you can count on me.”

“Good. You have less than an hour to gather your things and then you’ll report to the helipad, where my personal helicopter will take you to the lead ship of the fleet headed to the Caribbean.” Karimi sat down behind his desk and started working on whatever was on his desk, making it perfectly clear to Wayne that the conversation was over.

Wayne went to his apartment, gathered a few of the personal items he’d brought with him to Babylon, and then hurried to the helipad. The helicopter was primed and ready to leave as Wayne climbed on board, and it took off before he was finished strapping himself in. Fifteen minutes later, the helicopter landed on the lead aircraft carrier and Wayne was immediately escorted to the bridge.

“What about my belongings?” he asked one of the naval personnel on the way to the bridge.

“We’ll take care of it, sir.”

“All right.”

On the bridge, Wayne was greeted by Sayeed, who was also the head of the Union’s Special Forces. “Welcome, Mr. Davis, I’m sure you’re eager to get this mission under way. Correct?”

“Of course. So, what’s the plan?”

“This fleet will be blockading the transition from the Caribbean to the Atlantic to prevent any of their ships, if they have any, from trying to run. Once Admiral Halani is sure everything’s secure, we’ll go in and arrest Powell and his underlings, probably in the middle of the night to prevent any possible screw-ups. The Patriarch wants what’s coming to them to be quick and decisive. Once they’re taken care of, you can move in and become the new North American administrator. Do you have any questions?”