Tribulation (20 page)

Adam sighed and
rubbed his huge hand through his cropped grey hair. It was a
gesture Sam remembered. Reliving the past was clearly painful for
Adam. “We were almost completely overrun. There were only three of
us left by that stage, the others having managed to get out. Well,
I hope they got out at any rate. The walls had fallen and demons
were everywhere. I think I was fighting with my hands at that
point.” He smiled to himself with the thought. “I’d made some
gloves studded with iron spikes. Very effective. I told the other
two to run, get away through the tunnels and they did. But it was
too late. As they were running, Astaroth swooped out of the sky and
snatched them up. Just like that, they were gone and I was alone. I
retreated to the mouth of the caves and that’s when another Horned
demon charged me. Luckily, its aim was off. Instead of hitting me,
it hit the side of the cave entrance. The impact caused the
entrance to collapse. The last thing I remember is rocks raining
down on me.”

Adam paused
again, lost in the moment. Sam shook his head in amazement. Adam
was incredible.

“When I
regained consciousness,” he continued, “I was alone. The rock fall
had completely blocked the entrance so at least I was safe for the
moment. Of course, I was pinned under a massive boulder. It took me
two days to free myself and open up a hole wide enough for me to
squeeze through. I didn’t rest that entire time, scared that the
demons would find their way through the back entrance. Obviously,
they didn’t bother or I wouldn’t be here now. When I emerged
outside, thankfully it was daylight and I was able to get my
bearings. I went back inside the cave complex through the back,
collected a few supplies and left. The cave was compromised. There
was nothing left for me there.”

“What happened
to the others?” asked Sam. “Did they get away?”

Adam shook his
head. “I don’t know for sure. Some I found later on, but others -
many others - must have been taken.”

“And what did
you do then?”

“I walked.
Sometimes I got lucky and found a vehicle. Once, I even flew but
the engine choked after a few miles and almost killed me. Went
through Arizona and then into California. Found Colonel Sumner and
spent a few months working with him. That’s when I got promoted. It
was good there for a while, but then I just had to leave.”

“Why?” asked
Sam.

Adam shrugged
his massive shoulders. “I felt restless. I knew that Colonel Sumner
was doing a heap to help the people of California and especially
Los Angeles, but it wasn’t enough for me. I had to do more. The
Colonel had got in touch with some other survivors – especially
military - in the southern states and so that’s where I headed.
Took me the best part of a year but I found myself in Florida.”

Sam was
astounded. “But that’s several thousand miles!” he exclaimed.

Adam smiled
ruefully. “Don’t my feet know it. Anyway, I heard that one Eglin
Air Force Base was still operational and I headed for it. When I
got there, I was impressed. They had a full scale operation going
on there and were well supplied. They put me to work and I was busy
for well over a year, searching for survivors, hunting demons and
the like. Then the submarine arrived.”

Sam sat more
upright. Had he heard correctly? “What submarine?”

Adam laughed.
“I thought that would get your attention. Yeah, it was a submarine
alright. Part of the British navy. Unlike most of our navy, it had
survived the tsunamis largely because it was in deep water when the
Rapture came. Anyway, after the Rapture was over and things seemed
to be settling down, the sub returned to England. It seemed things
were a little better there than they were here but communications
were still a problem. The sub and crew helped out where they could
and things even improved for a while, thanks to some inspired
leadership from someone in Europe.”

Warning bells
were going off in Sam’s head now. Inspired leadership? To him that
meant only one thing: The Antichrist had returned. His brother.

Both Colonel
Wheat and Adam had been watching Sam carefully for his reaction. He
didn’t disappoint them. The shock must have been evident on his
face.

“So the Brits
filled us in on this inspiring leader,” interrupted Colonel Wheat.
“Seems he came out of nowhere about two years ago. Very charismatic
and charming. That kind of thing. Wrapped whatever leadership was
left in Europe around his little finger. Formed a new Pan-European
government and got himself elected as its president. Things were
going well. Even the demons didn’t appear as often, almost like
this leader somehow had the power to keep them away.”

“What name did
he give?” asked Sam.

“Mr. Sazaimes
was the only name he went by,” said Adam

Sam almost
laughed out loud which would have been highly uncharacteristic of
him. He restrained the impulse with an effort. Mr. Sazaimes? So his
brother was alive after all? He should’ve known. During their last
battle, he had run him through with his sword, a blow that would’ve
killed anyone else outright. It appeared, however, that his family
was rather difficult to kill. His twin had some cheek though.
Hadn’t even bothered to disguise his name very much.

The Colonel was
eyeing him sharply. “What’s so funny?”

Sam sobered
quickly. “It’s not that funny. It’s just that my brother – the
Antichrist – his name is Semiazas. Mr. Sazaimes is simply Semiazas
spelled backwards.”

Adam looked
grim. “That’s what the people of Europe eventually figured out but
by then it was too late.”

“So what
happened next?” asked Sam, although he already knew. So far, all of
this was part of scripture in the Bible. These events had been
mapped out for thousands of years.

“Jerusalem was
declared an international city,” continued Adam. “Within it, all
religions had equal rights which was hailed as a progressive move.
Given that the world was in turmoil, it was a popular
decision.”

“Makes sense,”
agreed Sam. “It’s all part of my father’s and brother’s plan to
bring people gradually onto the side of Satan. Ease them into it,
if you like.”

“Do we have any
idea of the sort of numbers we are talking about here?” asked
Colonel Wheat.

“If you mean
how many demon worshippers we are potentially looking at, then
according to what my master Hikari taught me, probably a billion
people got taken up in the Rapture. That means that there were
roughly six billion people left on the planet. That was three and a
half years ago though. Judging from what I’ve seen here in the
States, lots more have died or been taken since. There’s no way
there’ll be anything like those numbers left now. Not only that,
but the outbreak of disease seems to be taking its toll.”

According to
scripture, in the last half of the Tribulation, disease would
become more rife. Sam could attest to that, having seen it
first-hand. He’d also seen the base’s hospital. It was almost full,
mostly with cases of the bubonic plague which had run riot
especially during the last few months. It didn’t surprise Sam given
the amount of rats he’d seen. Rats that were often the only source
of food the survivors had. Any bodies that Sam had encountered
outside the base usually had signs of the disease – swelling,
gangrene in the extremities and bleeding from the ears.

When the
disease had first emerged in the fourteen century, it had killed an
estimated twenty five million people – almost fifty per cent of the
European population at the time. They had no cure. Even now, in the
modern age, without access to antibiotics, humans were just as
susceptible as they had been back then. Probably more so given the
weakened state of most survivors. Outside the bastions of survival
that were mostly military bases, things were grim for what remained
of the human race.

Luckily, the
base was well stocked with antibiotics which easily countered the
disease. Those supplies were not limitless, but so far the base was
managing with the influx of survivors. Probably about half of the
survivors he’d just brought in had signs of the disease. Every
single new arrival was checked for the disease, which thankfully,
seemed to be keeping it in check.

Adam was
nodding. “My intel is about two months old now but I heard the same
report from Europe. Roughly ten percent of the population was taken
in the Rapture. Then, lots more either died from disease or
starvation or got taken by demons. Then things seemed to get better
with this Mr. Sazaimes. He even let the Jews demolish a mosque and
rebuild their temple on the same spot at Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem.
That’s when it all gets a bit odd. It seems the Jews then revived
their ancient practice of animal sacrifice.”

“This is all in
the Bible,” said Sam. “I may not be able to touch one, but I’ve
still read it many times. It’s all part of the final terms of the
Covenant.”

“News to me,”
said the Colonel. “Probably why I didn’t get taken in the Rapture.
Never read it.”

“Maybe you
should,” said Adam. “I have. Look on it as forward planning.”

“Perhaps,” said
Colonel Wheat, plainly not convinced. “But old habits die hard.
Tell Sam what happened next.”

“Then,”
continued Adam, “just when everyone thought that he was the best
thing since sliced bread, he goes and invades Israel from the
north. Of course, Israel wasn’t expecting this and his forces
completely overran them. He had help from demons though, revealing
his hand for the first time.”

Sam winced. He
knew what was coming next: what the Antichrist had tried to do
years ago in LA/Vegas but failed. His timing, predicted by the
Bible, had been all wrong in that instance.

“He then made
Jerusalem his world capital and outlawed all religions other than
those worshipping himself or his image,” Adam was saying. “He moved
the seat of his power into the Jewish Temple, called himself God
and killed or sacrificed anyone who said otherwise.”

“The
Abomination of Desolation,” interrupted Sam. That was all in the
scriptures too.

“Indeed,” said
Adam. “That was when all his followers began to emerge, recognized
by the mark of the beast tattooed on their wrists. You both know
what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah,” said
Sam. “I saw them in L.A and they’re starting to crop up in other
places too. The nest I found up north all had the mark.”

“It seems,”
mused the Colonel, “that all those who bear the mark are able to
carry on their lives unmolested by demons. In fact, we’ve heard
rumors that the mark allows them to trade amongst themselves.”

“You heard
right,” said Sam. “They had the full system operating in L.A.”

“Bear with me,
gentlemen. Almost finished,” said Adam. “After the … Abomination
and the mark of the beast revelation, the Jews fled Jerusalem.
Israel as a force to be reckoned with or an ally is no more. If we
had hoped for some help from that quarter, we’re sorely
mistaken.”

“And how long
ago did this happen again?” asked Sam. If this event followed what
was foretold in the Bible, it was meant to have been half-way
through the Tribulation. Exactly three and a half years.

“The sub
appeared roughly two months ago. I left Florida about a month ago
to spread the warning.”

“Sam, you know
more about this biblical stuff than any of us,” said Colonel Wheat.
“What are your thoughts? What can we expect now?”

Sam collected
his thoughts that were currently racing with the implications of
all that he had heard. Even though he expected this news, it still
came as a shock. “The Abomination marks the beginning of the end.
The beginning of God’s final judgments. We are in the end times
now. The end of this world. You thought things were bad now.
They’re going to get a whole lot worse. More natural disasters,
more disease, more famine – you name it.”

“How long have
we got?” asked Colonel Wheat.

“We’ve got just
under three and a half years until the final judgment. In that
time, probably eighty per cent of what’s left of the world’s
population will perish. The rest will have to fend off demons.”

“Actually,”
said Adam, “we’ve got less time than that.”

In a
synchronized move, both the Colonel and Sam snapped their heads
Adam’s direction.

“What do you
mean?” demanded the Colonel.

“I’m sorry,
Colonel,” said Adam, sounding like he genuinely was. “But I wanted
to wait until Sam was here so I could tell you both at the same
time. Foolish, I know, but I figured another few days wouldn’t
matter. I had to deliver the message in person, too -
communications being as bad as they are these days.” He paused and
took a long breath. “The British submarine crew gave us other news
too. They only just escaped with their lives but before they did,
they witnessed a massive ship-building effort along the west coast
of Europe. The Antichrist is also collecting whatever armed vessels
he can find. It’s an invasion fleet.”

Sam cursed
himself under his breath. He should have known this would happen.
The last time the Antichrist had invaded the U.S, he had been
unprepared, ignoring biblical prophecy in his arrogance and youth.
This time, he would get it right. Do it by the book.

Adam met both
men’s gazes. “It seems the Antichrist is planning on invading the
U.S again, this time with more conventional armed forces as well as
his demonic army. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’ve tried to
visit every active base or settlement left on the East coast. I’ve
come to warn you.”

“How long?”
asked Colonel Wheat, his voice flat and emotionless.

“We can’t be
exactly sure. The ships needed to be finished, armed and crewed.
Fueled. Travel time. Take away the time I spent getting here …”

“How long!”
demanded the Colonel.