REVENGE: Shelter Book 6 (The Shelter)

by Ira Tabankin

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  As dawn brightens the eastern sky over D.C., the storm blows out to sea, the sun dries the capital’s streets. People wake, turning on their water to wash, to brush their teeth and to make coffee. Millions scream, dropping their coffee pots; some people fall out of their showers screaming, their bodies covered in dark red stains from the red water flowing out of their faucets. Every drop of water in the D.C. area is blood red. It’s the only story on every radio, television and internet news program. Frank sits on his bed smiling, so the crap worked. We’ll soon learn if they begin to make the connection. I left over one hundred leaflets at churches. It’s time to go home. The local news station he’s watching interrupts their reports with a news flash: the Mississippi, the Colorado, and surrounding Pittsburgh, the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers are also bright red. The 156-mile-long Chicago River is also bright red; this anomaly is causing mass panic. News reporters can’t explain what’s going on, they show images of the blood red rivers from helicopters and drones.

  The FDA issues an emergency announcement to not drink the red water until they can determine what caused it. Fear driven panic spreads through the North’s largest cities. In the affected cities, large masses of people gather on the banks of the rivers with their pastors, praying for God’s forgiveness. Social media is overwhelmed, Twitter and Facebook are so overwhelmed with posts they spontaneously shut down. The sight of hundreds of thousands of dead fish floating on the red water sends chills down the backs of the faithful. The Cardinal of Chicago stands on the bank of the red Chicago River telling thousands of Catholics,

  “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed” (Revelation 8:8–9). “Look at the river, not only is it blood red, but all life in the river is dead or dying. God is unhappy with us. He is sending us a message. We must change our ways and repent, we must beg for his forgiveness while there is still time. Come let me baptize you in the red waters to show we are one with God.”

  The Cardinal walks into the water, holding a young child whom he plans to baptize. He bends the child over, holding her head under the water while he prays for God’s mercy. The poison in the water is still very strong when he pulls the child out of the water, she shakes, and convulses in his arms, she’s dead before he makes it to the shore where her parents are waiting. The Cardinal is shocked; he’s never seen anything like this before. He quickly tries to get out of the water, his path is blocked by the angry family who blame him for the death of their precious daughter. The child’s father blocks the Cardinal from leaving the river.

  “Please, I must exit the river, my flock needs me.”

  “First, place you head under the water and count to sixty.”

  “I can’t hold my breath that long.”

  “Pray to God for strength, either you place your head under the water, or I’ll hold you under until you stop moving. You killed our daughter.”

  “I didn’t do anything, something is evil in the water, yes, Satan is in the river, we must all quickly move away from the river.”

  The girl’s father wades into the river, he grabs the Cardinal by his neck.

  “You can’t touch me, I’m a Cardinal.”

  “You killed my daughter.”

  He pushes the Cardinal’s head under the water until the count of one hundred. When he pulls the Cardinal up, his eyes are bulging, his body is uncontrollably shaking, he flops like a fish being held out of water before dying in the father’s arms.

  “Come we need to get away from this place. God isn’t here, the Cardinal lied, God is indeed angry at us. The river is poison, it’s not filled with God’s spirit, it’s filled with pure evil. We need to figure out why.”

  His brother touches his shoulder,

  “Brother, it’s the end-of-days. The final battle is coming; we are all going to die. God is unhappy with us, we’ve scorned him. We need to seek the real truth and salvation.”

  “Yes, first I must bury Mary. She was innocent. Why did God take her from us?”

  “He took her to spare her the pain and suffering the end times is going to bring. She’s in Heaven with our Lord.”

  They push the Cardinal’s body into the blood red river to float to Hell. The family kneels praying for forgiveness and help. Looking around, they see thousands of people gathered along the river bank. Mary’s father yells;

  “Go from here, beg the Lord for forgiveness, he is coming. He killed the Cardinal for being impure, he killed him because he spent too much time tending to politics versus guiding our souls. The water is filled with Satan’s poison; we need to seek true salvation. We need to return to our roots, we need to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness.”

  By noon, the smell from the dead river life becomes overwhelming, everyone living near one of the rivers becomes sick to their stomachs, the local stores experience a run on air fresheners and face masks.”

  Similar scenes are repeated in every city where the water has turned red. Thousands die when they drink the red water, some by brushing their teeth without realizing the water turned red, some in the shower, some by making coffee with the tainted water. Panic grows and spreads as the South enters codes into the North’s grid network shutting down power in the affected cities. The South also reverses the water purification plants, sending sewage into homes. The sudden loss of electrical power and sewage coming out of faucets is the straw that that breaks the camel’s back, the loss of electrical power with the red water sends millions into the streets. Stores quickly raise the price of a bottle of water to $5 and then $10 a bottle. People are angry they’re being taken advantage of. Flash mobs swarm every store they think has bottled water. Within thirty minutes most stores in the inner cities are stripped of their supplies of bottled water, most of the stores are set on fire, which burn out of control. Local Fire Departments are afraid to use the water. Entire city blocks burn out of control. Mayors scream for help to their Governors who call the White House asking for assistance.

  The President is confused, none of his advisors has any idea what’s causing the water to turn red, or why the grid and water plants are failing. No one can locate the specialized repair people the South sent to the help get the Northern grid up. They all up and disappeared.

  Somehow I know that SOB in Tennessee did this to us. I can’t prove it yet, but when I do, I’m going to use every weapon I have to put him down. If I have to nuke him and his little shelter, I will. He’s screwing with me, he promised to help repair our grid, then his people disappeared, they must have brought it down before they left. He sent us repair people not to rebuild our grid, but to do something which gives him control of it. I don’t know how or what he did to our water, but he committed the largest environmental crime in history. I’m within my right to grab him for crimes against humanity. He’s going to pay, he’s going to pay with his life and the lives of his family. He’s dead! DEAD! I’m not going to let him destroy my legacy.”

  “Call the cabinet, I need to consult with them right now. Tell them to drop everything else they’re doing and get their asses over here. We’re at war. Get the damn Generals over here too, we might as well hear what they have to say.”

  His CoS nods,

  “Yes, sir, I’ll get the available Cabinet Secretaries on their way here.”

  “What do you mean those available? I told you to get all of them.”

  “Mr. President, some are out of town.”

  “I don’t care, get them back here and find out if any other country is suffering from their water supply turning red or any other color.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The North’s woes spread around the world, the socialist Pope shakes his head, was this manmade or is our Lord telling us something? Poisonous blood red water? It’s time to convene the special council who are educated about the end of days events. This one r
eally bothers me. I fear this could be God’s message that he is unhappy with us. He must have struck the Northern section of America because they’ve forsaken our Lord. Their President has gone out of his way to attack Christianly and Judaism. Is this the beginning of the end-of-days? His thought are interrupted by his Chief of Staff,

  “Your holiness, there are millions in the plaza below, they are begging for your guidance. Some have even had themselves crucified so they can experience the suffering as our Lord Jesus did, they believe it will draw them closer our Lord. The world urgently needs your guidance and wisdom.”

  “My son, tell the people I will address them and the world in one hour.”

  “Thank you, your holiness.”

  Turning back to the Bible open in front of him, I don’t believe any other Pope has faced such a task. I need to pray for our Lord’s guidance, I need him to tell me what to say to the masses of people waiting, hanging on every word I will say.

  A knock on his private quarters brings him back to reality,

  “Your holiness, the Cardinal of Chicago is dead.”

  “How? What happened?”

  “He tried to baptize a young girl in the Chicago River to prove the color change has nothing to do with the end-of-days. The girl died. Your holiness, she’s dead. Her father grabbed the Cardinal, he held him under the water. When the girl’s dad pulled the Cardinal up, he too shuttered violently and died. All of the fish in the affected rivers have also perished. Millions of dead fish are floating down the rivers. We’ve received reports that the smell of death near the rivers is making millions ill. Another anomaly, the cities with the red rivers have also lost electrical power.”

  “All of the cities?”

  “All of the cities where the rivers have turned red. Your Holiness, the people are panicking, thousands of homes are burning out of control, there are mobs of angry, frightened people swarming through the cities committing every type of crime. It’s horrible, it’s almost as if Satan himself has been set loose in America.”

  “Yes, my son, I think he has. Please allow me a few minutes to prepare my thoughts.”

  “Yes, your Holiness, I’m sorry for having disturbed you.”

  “My son, it is fine, we are seeing something that has only been spoken about, we are seeing the beginning of the great battle between good and evil. Please prepare my best robes, I need to look the best I can when I address the people.”

  “Yes, your holiness.”

  Chapter 9

  Frank picked up the room receipt under his door and left the hotel through the back door. He got in his car and drove eight miles to the Dulles Town Center Mall where he located the underground garage where his next car is waiting. He changed cars, replaced the license plates with clean ones, leaving the keys in the ignition of his old car, he began his drive home. Turning on the radio, he laughs so hard listening to people call into the local radio stations he almost crashes the car. He receives a text from the shelter telling him all of the teams have checked in, all are safe and heading home. Each team visited a different river or reservoir in the North. All are going to make their way home from different directions.

  The talk radio station continues broadcasting listeners calling in to report their reactions to the water turning red.

  “It’s like in the Bible, the water turned to blood.”

  “My baby is covered in blood.”

  “My coffee pot filled with blood red water.”

  “I was covered in blood water from my shower, I looked at myself and screamed.”

  “My baby, my little baby, is covered in blood, I’m telling you the devil is here, this is the end times! We’re all going to die!”

  “What are we supposed to drink?”

  “My local Starbucks is closed; how do I get my double decaf latte?”

  “I’m telling you, the Lord is angry at us; he’s going to kill us all.”

  “Someone needs to ask what the Jews want; they brought this on us, just like they did in Egypt. They want something, why haven’t we asked what they want? The Jews are always behind evil.”

  “My sister lives in Atlanta she says there’s nothing wrong with her water, what happened to ours? Why is God angry with us? What have we done to upset him? How can get we him to forgive us and return our water to normal?”

  “The President did this to us, he upset God.”

  “I’m afraid! Someone needs to help us.”

  “What next? Is God going to repeat the ten plagues? I don’t want to lose my son!”

  Helicopters flying over the Potomac River report the River through Virginia and Maryland has turned dark red. They also report that the river is filled with the floating bodies of dead fish and a few people who tried to swim in the river to prove it wasn’t deadly; they learned too late that they were wrong. Callers who live near the river report the smell is getting worse as the sun warms the water. The dead fish are attracting billions of insects which feast on the bodies. The insects then carry diseases into the cities.

  People begin flocking to churches looking for an answer. The White House issues a Press Release saying, there’s nothing to worry about, there must have been a landslide close to the affected cities which dumped red clay into the rivers; there’s no reason to be concerned about anything. The President will address the subject in a televised statement at noon. He doesn’t realize the Pope is also going to make an announcement.

  The President’s CoS knocks on the Oval Office door,

  “Sir, the Pope has announced he’s going to address the world on the rivers turning red and the dying fish. His address will conflict with yours.”

  “Tell him to move his address! I'm the President of the United States, my people need to hear from me.”

  “Sir, he’s the Pope! Mr. President, he’s the leader of millions of Christians, I suggest you postpone your statement to the people, we may learn something from his address. Let him go first, we can use whatever he says.”

  “Alright then, we will see what horrors he unleashes upon his followers. I’ll agree to postpone my address to our people by two hours.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Damn that Pope, why is he sticking his nose into my business, what happens in this country isn’t any of his concern. I’ll let him go first, I’ll let him make a fool of himself. He’s most likely going to talk about Jesus and the Lord returning, I have to be careful not to cross him, or I could push more people to move to the South, something I can’t afford.

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  Frank drives West on Route 66 leaving D.C., he connects with the Dulles Greenway, Highway 267 which he takes to route 7 West. He stops for gas and to relieve himself before he changes cars at a Hampton Inn parking lot alongside Interstate 81 reaching a North/South customs station. It’s his last stop before he’s safely back in the Confederacy. Frank pulls up to the customs station.

  “Papers!”

  “Here is my license and registration.”

  “Why are you leaving the North? What are you carrying into the Confederacy? We need to inspect your car, pull it to the right lane, two agents will inspect your car. You can wait in the inspection building.”

  Frank smiles at the agent knowing he has no option, he can’t make problems if he wants to cross the border and be safe. While standing in the furniture-less small room, he watches a family being handcuffed and dragged away to a holding cell.

  They most likely tried to smuggle something out of the North, most likely gold or something else with a hard value, their money has no value in the Confederacy. Frank looks at the warning signs which cover the walls,

  “Warning, under the order of the DHS, no one is allowed to transport any object(s) to the Confederacy that has a total value more than $5,000 new American dollars. Transporting gold, silver or any metal or mineral of value is a felony and subject to not less than two years in prison and a fine of $50,000.”

  The only way they can keep assets in the North is to forbid them from leaving. If anyone is
caught, their valuables are confiscated, they are taken from the border and imprisoned. The poor fools, they’ll never get out of prison if they do, they’re going to find they lost everything they owned. The government took their home, cars, bank accounts; everything they owned will end up in the government’s hands. Damn, just like those healthcare saving accounts, if the patient doesn't use their saved portion in that calendar year, the government confiscates it. The loss of freedom in America would shock our founding fathers, how could they have anticipated the felonious actions of our once upstanding law makers?