by Dawn Morris
I felt warm, despite the breeze blowing my hair in my face. He brushed it aside.
“Japheth, we could use your help if you can tear yourself away from Ariana,” his mother called, grinning widely and shaking her head.
“Of course, Mother,” Japheth said. As he took my hand in his, we walked over to his parents’ cart. Each of us took something, and we made our way to an area where tables had been set up under a group of trees.
I stuck close to Japheth, who seemed to know everyone in the crowd that surrounded the family. He proudly introduced me to each of them before leading me toward the shade of the trees.
“Ariana! Ariana! Come sit with us!” Taina yelled, waving at Japheth and me. Over the past few weeks, I had gotten to know Taina and Nua, the wives of Japheth’s brothers. Nua sat with Taina on a yellow-and white-spotted blanket. Nua waved, too. Their eagerness put me at ease. Shem sat next to Nua. It was hard to believe he was Japheth’s brother; they looked so different. His black hair and deep brown skin contrasted with his brother’s light features.
“Sit next to us,” Nua ordered, telling Taina and Ham to move over.
“You need to keep your wife in line,” Ham teased Shem. “She’s so bossy!”
Nua pushed a wooden cup into my hands as I sat down. “Here’s some wine Noah made. It’s one of his special wines. It’s very light.”
I took a sip. It was excellent. Noah took great pride in his vineyard. Nua poured another wooden cup and offered it to Taina.
“No,” Ham said, pushing the cup back. “Taina and I won’t be drinking any of Father’s special vintages. Actually, I think we’re going to join one of the other groups.”
Abruptly, Ham stood up and told his wife to follow him. Taina’s eyebrows were drawn together, but she got up and followed him, turning to shake her head at us and shrug her shoulders.
“What just happened?” I wondered. “Did I do something to offend him?”
“It’s not you,” Japheth responded. “Ham gets into strange moods. He’ll get over it and be fine.”
“Until the next time,” Shem laughed.
We sipped our wine and chatted as we waited for Noah to speak. Finally, he and Laelah made their way to the front of the crowd.
Noah welcomed everyone and started talking about the ark and the plans God had given him for preparing for the coming judgment. “There is plenty of room in the ark for all of us!” Noah assured us. “And we will have plenty of work to do as we care for the animals the Creator will send. There will be two of each kind, male and female, of the land animals but seven pairs of the clean animals and birds, so we may have some for sacrifices to the Creator, while leaving the others to multiply and fill the earth.”
Looking over at Japheth, I felt an earnest sense of gratitude. Without knowing me, he had rescued me from the hands of the Magistrate. He saved me from death, or worse. I shivered and scooted closer to him, so our shoulders touched. I was safe with him. More than safe.
Dappled light played on his tanned face as I peeked over at him. I noticed the highlights in his hair, bleached white in the sun’s light. He was gazing across the small meadow at his father, and a smile creased his face.
“You’re proud of him, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Yes, my father is a man his sons can look up to,” he stated. His smile faded just then as Ham cackled with laughter, his wife Taina joining in.
Just then Noah began speaking. Japheth looked up, took my hand in his and kissed it, as his father’s voice boomed across the field. Noah said a few more words to the crowd, and the meeting ended.
Men and boys began setting up long tables. Baskets of food and casks of beer and wine were pulled from the wagons that brought the families to the celebration. We had come in two wagons, both filled with good things from Laelah’s storage room. Everyone brought something to share. I watched, smiling, as Laelah directed people. Soon everything was ready and people sat down at the tables to eat and drink.
After the meal, people started playing music, and the dancing began. I was unfamiliar with the particular dances, so I stood by and watched. A young woman about my age joined me.
“Have you enjoyed the celebration so far?” she asked.
She was a bit taller than me, so I had to look up. Bright, yellow hair framed her beautiful face and cascaded down her back in waves. She was smiling broadly, making her blue eyes crease with humor.
“I am, thank you! I am Ariana.”
“I am Nua’s sister, Eritza.”
“Oh, I should have known! You have the same lovely hair color!”
“Yes, there are seven daughters in our family. My younger sisters are over there by the water.” Eritza pointed to the water’s edge. Many of the younger children were wading in the creek while the older people danced or mingled. Although there were quite a few children there, her sisters were easily identified. They had the same cascading yellow hair.
“I have no sisters or brothers. It must be wonderful to always have someone around. Do you live far from here?”
She shook her head negatively. “We live in the village over the hill there. Most of us do, actually. Well, at least for the time being.” Her smile faded a bit.
Methuselah had told me the entire group here in the meadow would be going into the ark when it was time. “Are you worried about going?” I asked. “Methuselah has reassured me many times, but I must admit, I’m anxious about it.”
“Have you seen it yet?”
“Yes, of course. Its size is incredible!”
She laughed. “Yes, there is plenty of room for all of us, and the animals! It has taken many years to build. Of course, there are many who do not believe Noah, but these do.” She gestured to the people around us.
“I like to think about the animals,” Eritza went on. “Noah said the Creator will call them all to board the ark. My sisters and I love to imagine what that will be like! Lions and lambs together on the same boat? Will we have to keep the peace?” She chuckled.
We chatted for a while before Japheth came to get me. “Mother’s not feeling well, Ariana. Would you like to stay for a while longer, or go back with the rest of the family?”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that! I’ll go back now!” I hugged my new friend before following Japheth back to the others. I noticed Noah and Laelah were already in their wagon, headed down the path with Shem and Nua. Waiting for us in the second wagon were Ham and Taina, already seated.
The journey home was quiet. Ham slept, leaning against his wife. It felt strange after the liveliness of the gathering we had just left.
When we arrived home, Noah was pulling his wagon back out onto the road.
“Father, what’s wrong?” Japheth asked.
“Your mother is in a lot of pain. I’m going back to the Celebration to fetch the healer.”
Ham stirred awake and spoke up. “You go with Father, Japheth. I’ll take the horses and put them in their stalls. Taina can help Nua tend to mother while you’re gone.”
The trip back to the meadow was jolting as Noah lengthened the reigns, allowing the horses to gallop. Noah’s face was stiff with concern, and he did not speak much, even in response to Japheth’s questions.
Bodies. The meadow was filled with bodies. We had not been gone more than an hour, but everything had changed.
Bodies lay in heaps across the field. Noah and Japheth jumped down from the wagon. Japheth helped me down and held me close. “Stay next to me,” he ordered in a harsh whisper. We turned to follow Noah.
“This is the Nephilim’s work,” Noah said flatly as he bent to check a man on the ground in front of him. His throat had been sliced open. Women and children lay alongside the men. No pity. No mercy.
I saw the lovely yellow hair of my new friend floating in the creek. Without thinking, I raced over and tried to pull her out. She had one of her sisters clutched in her arms.
Screaming for Japheth to come and help, I yanked both of the girls toward the bank. Noah and Japheth ran to
help me. Her sister was dead, but Eritza was still breathing.
“She’s been stabbed,” Japheth said. I could see the bloody gash across her stomach.
Her eyes fluttered open and she moaned. “Eritza, who did this?” I asked, cradling her in my arms. Her blue eyes fixed on mine, and then the life left them.
“She’s dead!” I wailed, clutching her.
Japheth and Noah were searching the meadow for Methuselah.
“He is not here,” Noah said. Turning to Japheth, he said tersely, “We don’t have time to go back and get your brothers. “They slaughtered the healer, and they have taken Methuselah. I must go to the city.”
Noah was a gentle man, but his face shone with ominous wrath. Japheth silently wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. I’d never seen him look so fierce. “What about Ariana? We can’t leave her here, and I don’t want to take her into the city.”
“There’s no hope for it,” Noah was already pulling on the reigns. “Laelah is in pain, and we must get to Methuselah in time. You remember the prophecy: when Methuselah dies, the end comes! The Magistrate doesn’t believe the Creator will flood the whole earth. He plans to kill Methuselah and boast when nothing happens. Then he will rid his kingdom of the knowledge of the Creator by destroying everyone who knows him.”
We reached Sumeria hours later. Noah raced our horses toward the stadium, where not long ago Japheth had raced in the Festival. The bellows of a great crowd roaring with cursing and cheers.
As soon as Noah pulled up the horses, he threw the reigns aside and leaped from the wagon, running to the stadium. Japheth jumped down and pulled me after him.
What met our eyes was as terrible a sight as the massacre in the field. In the center of the arena was a giant golden statue. At its feet were the bloody pieces of Methuselah’s body.
“They’ve killed him!” I screamed.
At the foot of the statue stood the Magistrate, hovering gleefully over the gruesome scene, his mouth opened in mocking blasphemy against the Creator and praising the name of Malumek, his god. His voice carried out to the raucous crowd. “Me-thu-se-lah.” He mockingly saluted the body parts with each syllable. “It was foretold that he would die in the year of judgment. If there is a Creator, let Him show Himself. I dare Him to bring His judgment on us!”
Raising his bloodied fist to the darkened skies, the Magistrate laughed victoriously. Noah pushed through the crowd with ease, making his way to the center of the arena, where he confronted the wicked ruler.
“Mock away! Call out to your worthless god, Malumek, when the waters overflow the earth. Scream for his help when the flood overtakes you, and you drown in its depths. Who will help you? You will cry out to the Creator, but it will be too late!”
The crowd roared with jeering laughter as Noah left the arena. Their screams of victory followed us as we left the city.
FIRE
Chapter 11
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Revelation 7:8
It took us a day to get near the place where Mitch thought Cheryl was being held, a former military base east of Spokane. Major sections of the highway were almost impassable. Either snarls of abandoned vehicles blocked our way, or the road was too heavily damaged to pass. Mitch had to take side roads around those points. We saw no one as we drove.
“Why are there no people? So many buildings and houses but not a single person.” I was puzzled.
“Between the war and the Tribulation, this area has been devastated,” Mitch replied.
“I’ve heard that word before, I think.”
“The Tribulation?” Sierra piped up. “It’s the Bible’s description of the time between the Vanishings and when Jesus returns for those who follow Him. My mom told me all about it. We are in the “time of Tribulation,” of God’s judgment. God’s wrath is finally being poured out on the world for rejecting Him and His ways. It’s a major wake-up call. It’s time for everyone to turn back to God.”
I had heard bits and pieces of this from Daphne and her book, but it had seemed like a story then. Now, looking out the truck window at the piles of debris around us, it all seemed too real.
“Yeah, Cheryl had us go to a Bible study about it. The Tribulation includes the judgments described in the Book of Revelation, natural disasters, war, and those creatures. In this area,” his hand swept over the view through the windshield, “it began with an earthquake then Mt. Rainier—that mountain you see over there. It’s a volcano. It erupted; thousands of people died. The people who were left had to fend for themselves because the government was busy fighting the war.”
As Mitch continued describing the terrifying events of the previous few years, I sat in the passenger seat, stunned. Back at the Compound, I’d been sheltered from much of what he detailed. I could hardly comprehend what had been happening in the past few years.
“Horrible stuff has been going on all over the world. Devastation. Over a fourth of the world’s population died, mostly as a result of the famine of the last two years,” he concluded.
“And you’re saying all of this is God’s judgment on the world?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mitch replied thoughtfully. An odd look passed over his face and then quickly disappeared. I wondered what he was thinking.
“I know it sounds bad, Dani,” Sierra answered. “But all of this was foretold a long time ago. God is patient, and He’s given humanity a long time to turn to Him, but we only moved farther and farther away. Things got bad after the Vanishing when all the Christians disappeared, but they got really bad when President Bellomo’s peace deal was signed between Israel and the Global Union. Mom said that was the thing that started all of this stuff, and it was all predicted in the Bible.”
I stared at her as she spoke and noticed she was shivering. What she was saying sounded a lot like one of Dominic’s rants. “Mom said God is punishing the world for rejecting Him and His ways.
“Are you sick?” I asked. Mitch glanced over at me and then back over his shoulder at Sierra. She nodded her head and leaned it against the door.
Mitch swore under his breath. I thought he was upset Sierra was sick, until I turned back and looked at the road ahead of us. The bridge crossing the river was gone.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“There’s a road that runs along the river. I’m going to take that and hopefully, find somewhere we can stop.” He turned the truck around expertly and took the next exit off of the highway.
It was getting dark when Mitch turned the truck into a long drive and pulled to a stop in front of a large brick building. “Stay here,” he commanded as he got out of the truck. I watched him in silence. Sierra was asleep or unconscious. I wasn’t sure which. He disappeared around the back of the building and came back a few minutes later.
“Let’s go.” He pulled the seat back and shook Sierra. “You have to get up, sweetie. We need to find Mom, but you need some medicine and rest first.” With some difficulty, he got her up. I grabbed the empty bottles in case there was running water inside of the building.
“This was some kind of medical building. It’s been ransacked, but it’s vacant.” Mitch said. As soon as we got in the front door, I could see the place had been looted. It was a mess. Mitch led the way up a flight of stairs. We entered a long corridor and came to the end where it opened up into a large sitting room. One of the walls was a series of windows overlooking the river. I could just make out a park across from us on the other side.
Mitch tenderly led Sierra to a couch. “Lie here. I’m going to go through the building and see if there’s anything useful left. Dani will stay with you.”
He motioned me to follow him, and we left the waiting room and went into the corridor. “Can I have those bottles?” he asked. “I’m going to see if I can get some water.
I doubt there’s much left here, but this was a pretty desolate area to begin with, so maybe I’ll be able to find something.”
Silently, I handed him the empty bottles and went back in the room.
Sierra was curled up on the couch, her body shaking with fever. We’d had some medicine back at the Compound for fevers, but Dominic only allowed the doctor to give medication with his approval. I wondered what was happening back at the Compound now.
For the first time, I allowed myself to think about Daphne’s cold body laid out on our kitchen table. I clenched my eyes closed as I remembered gently turning her over. Both her eyes had been swollen dark purple from Jack’s ready fists. One of her arms was clearly broken, likely trying to defend herself from vicious hits with the bloody bat tossed on the floor next to her body.
You’ll never find me, Jack, I thought bitterly. Jack had never been my real father. I had been lied to my whole life about my father, about Dominic, and about life outside the compound. It had all been false. But now that I was in the real world, everything felt so unbelievable and strange. I looked out the window, but it was completely dark now. Not even any stars or moonlight.
I tried to make sense of all that I had learned since I had left the Compound, from the devastated landscape and cities controlled by the Global Union, to the information I had gleamed from Tomas and Mitch and Sierra. Sweat broke out on the back of my neck and armpits as I recalled the demon creatures. They were still out there somewhere, tormenting humanity . . . or what was left of it.
I hadn’t asked for any of this. I felt anger building inside me against a god who would allow such evil to torment people. It felt good to be angry.
“I found some stuff,” Mitch said as he came back into the room with a box. He set it down on the floor by us and reached into his pocket. Lighting a match, he pulled a fat candle out of the box and lit it.
“Let there be light!” he joked. I didn’t smile.
“What else did you find?” I asked.