by Mark Goodwin
Everett went out of his way to make sure troops were assigned to secure cities where their families were going. He studied the numbers and attempted to keep an even allocation of troops which was commensurate with the populations.
Once that task was complete, Everett, Courtney, Ali, and Rabbi Hertzog began their grand tour of all the underground cities. They traveled from city to city, locating the water supply, and turning the blood to water. In most cases, the rabbi stayed in the vehicle. Traversing the many stairs carved into the soft rock to reach the lower levels of the cities where the wells were located was an undertaking which did not bode well for a person incumbered by crutches.
Everett looked at his watch as Ali cut the engine of the Typhoon outside the entrances to the Kaymakli underground city. “Midnight again.”
“We’re home. You can sleep in tomorrow morning.” Courtney grabbed her duffle bag and Moses’ staff as she opened the side door of the vehicle.
“We still have to locate the well and change it before we can get settled in.” Everett slung his duffle bag over his good shoulder.
“You look for well. Courtney can help rabbi downstairs and find good place for live. I will bring in food and gear from truck.” Ali’s glowing tone gave Everett the extra push he needed to finish the task at hand.
“Thank you, Ali. I think that’s an excellent division of labor.” Everett took the staff from Courtney as she helped the rabbi out of the MRAP.
Everett and Ali followed Courtney and the rabbi down to the first level. They quickly located quarters in close proximity to each other. Everett’s group would stay on the first level, not only because of the rabbi’s leg, but because they were part of the security force that would defend Kaymakli in case of an attack.
“This looks like a good place.” Courtney looked around at three individual spaces which were all adjoined by a single passageway.
It looked like the inside of a beehive or a giant colony of ants to Everett. “Fine with me.”
“I think it is wonderful.” Ali placed the duffel bags he’d brought in from the truck near one of the doorways. “I will get another load from Typhoon.”
“I’ll go find the well and meet you all back here,” Everett said.
“We’ll be waiting.” Courtney helped the rabbi to take a seat on a bench that had been carved into the wall.
Everett carried a hand-drawn schematic, which had been copied from a map posted near the entrance to the underground city. He worked his way from the first level to the eighth, following tunnels and narrow stairwells, which were crowded with other Jews from the convoy who would be making Kaymakli their home for the next several weeks.
Everett considered all the various places he’d called home since he was a child. But ever since his parents’ divorce, nothing had ever felt like a real home to him. Sure, he and Courtney had made a home in the little cottage by the river back in Batumi. Likewise, they’d enjoyed their time in John Jones’ cabin back in the mountains of Virginia. They’d even made the best of a bad situation while living in the cave with Kevin and Sarah, Elijah, Sox and Danger, even Elijah’s two goats, Samson and Delilah. But none of those places, and certainly not this one, really felt like a permanent home.
However, he knew the real thing, a permanent dwelling, his final home was just around the corner. He took a deep breath as he wondered what his last abode would look like. What would it smell like? Would it have the same types of food as Earth? And what about furnishings? Obviously, they wouldn’t need to sleep, so would there be beds or couches? He’d read so many times about the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Evidently there would be tables and chairs. But what would they eat from? Would the plates and serving instruments be similar to those of the mortal realm?
As Everett descended to the lowest level where the well was located, he wondered what heaven would be like. He felt like a child who’d never been to Disneyland, one who’d never even seen a picture of the place but had heard stories about its magnificence, its vivacity, and its grandeur.
He finally arrived at the well and using a length of paracord, lowered Moses’ staff down in. He confirmed that the blood had been turned to water and reeled the staff back in. Having finished his formidable list of duties for the day, Everett felt worn and weary. He climbed back up to the first level where Courtney had already spread out his sleeping bag in a cozy corner next to hers. After a few minutes of bedtime chitchat and some assistance from his wife removing his boots, Everett closed his eyes knowing there’d be no morning sun in the subterranean dwelling to awaken him tomorrow. Soon, he lost consciousness and slept harder than he had in years.
The days passed and the inhabitants of Kaymakli began to develop a routine. Most everyone was pretty good about pitching in and doing their fair share. Life in the underground city necessitated a higher level of communal living than what they’d all grown accustomed to back in Batumi, Georgia. Some prepared meals, some cleaned; Everett, Ali, and Courtney took regular shifts in the security rotation.
Rabbi Hertzog moved to the second tier of the city as the church was situated on that level. He offered a daily devotional teaching in the chapel area. Every service was packed to capacity.
On the Thursday evening following the Jews’ exodus from Batumi, Everett made his way to the surface. It had become a ritual where he, like a groundhog coming up from beneath the earth to check for his shadow, would emerge nightly to check the status of the Aurora Borealis. The night sky on the evening prior presented only faint wisps of green light, like a phantom fading back to the ghostly realm from which it had originated. Everett walked out into the crisp night air. He breathed in the freshness after having spent most of the day within the walls of the subsurface labyrinth. He looked up at the clear sky above. The stars shimmered brightly against the utter blackness of space. “Nothing. Not even a trace of the lights.”
Quickly, he descended back to his quarters to find Courtney and Ali. The two were sitting on the floor of Everett’s room playing a hand of cards.
“The aurora has stopped!” he announced.
Ali turned as if he were having trouble thinking about anything other than his hand and his perfect strategy for defeating Courtney in this present contest, which required more skill than luck. “That’s . . . good.”
“It’s great, Ali!” It means we can pull an antenna to the surface; maybe try to pick up some Ham signals or a radio broadcast. It means we can hook up the small solar generator and use our walkie-talkies to coordinate our security teams. We might even be able to stay in contact with the other underground cities.”
Courtney caught the excitement, dropping her cards. “Wow. I’d almost forgotten that an entire world exists outside. I guess I adjusted to being cut off from everything better than I thought I would. Can we try the radio now?”
Everett located the crate with the electronics. “Yeah, let’s just take it to the surface for now. We’ll run a wire for an antenna tomorrow morning, first thing.”
Ali carefully placed his cards in his upper shirt pocket. “Courtney, you should pick up your cards and keep them with you. I do not want you to say that I win because I cheated.”
“There’s no risk of that.” Courtney followed Everett up the carved-out staircase.
Ali trailed close behind them. “Of me cheating?”
“No,” she quipped. “Of you winning.”
“Oh no, I must inform you that I am now holding the hand that is to turn the direction of this game!” Ali shook his handful of cards in protest as he scurried along behind her.
Once they arrived topside, Everett briskly extended the telescoping antenna of the portable radio. He took a seat on the grass, turned the receiver on and searched through the AM and FM channels.
Courtney and Ali ceased their bickering over the game and listened closely as Everett moved the dial across various sounds and degrees of static. Finally, he stumbled across a channel.
“This is the Global Republic Broadcasting Network.”
CHAPTER 18
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Revelation 16:12-16
For Everett’s group, the Friday evening meal consisted of MREs, some canned vegetable soup, which Courtney had made while in Batumi, and dehydrated apples. Like everything they’d eaten since their arrival in Kaymakli, the soup was served cold. The inhabitants of the underground city had no sustainable fuel source, so they made the best of what was available.
Rabbi Hertzog joined them for dinner in Everett’s living quarters. Courtney and Ali had helped him up the stairs so he could listen along to the radio broadcast with them while they ate. It proved to be easier to bring the rabbi up a flight of stairs than to run the radio antenna another flight lower.
The rabbi blessed the food, then they began eating.
Having waited for the rabbi to pray, Everett powered on the receiver and adjusted the volume.
“Tonight will begin the Sixth Seal?” Ali tore open his MRE.
“We shall see.” Everett checked his watch. “The sun set about half an hour ago.”
“Shabbat has begun.” Hertzog took a hand full of dried apples, put them on a paper towel, then passed the jar to Everett.
Everett placed the jar in the center of the circle formed by the four of them sitting on the floor with their legs crossed. He was more interested in the radio than his food at the moment.
The first voice was an Indian woman. It was a repeat broadcast of what they’d heard the night before. “The entire power grid has been restored to Jerusalem and the Ministry of Energy is working tirelessly to get electric service turned back on in major metropolitan cities. Paris, London, Istanbul, Madrid, and Rome are the current priorities and are slated to have power for emergency services and essential infrastructure by the end of the month.
“The Ministry of Health is advising those who were relying on electrical power to distill water from blood to try using, propane, wood fires, or any available fuel while you wait for service to be reinstated. Those who have no other alternative fuel sources can construct a solar still from glass, aluminum foil, or any materials available.
“The Ministry of Health also recommends setting up rain catchment systems to collect rain water from roofs in case the rains should return.
“More than eighty percent of the Holy Luzian Empire has been in drought conditions and has seen no rain whatsoever in the past six months. GRBN has recorded footage of the Two Troublers of Jerusalem claiming that they are responsible for the prolonged period with zero precipitation.
“In a statement earlier this week, Pope Peter condemned the two curious old men as being workers of evil and masters of a dark form of witchcraft practiced by an archaic radical sect of Christianity. The Pope assured subjects of the Holy Luzian Empire that the two men calling themselves Moses and Elijah have no connection to his brand of Christianity nor should their dark magic be confused with Wiccan, Druidic, Satanic, or other Pagan arts, which are approved by the Ministry of Religion.
“His Majesty himself has pledged to find a permanent solution to the Two Troublers by week’s end. Hopefully, when the two old men are finally disposed of, the rains will return and bring much-needed relief to those who are in perilous and desperate need of water. The loss of life due to dehydration has been growing exponentially ever since the phenomenon of water turning to blood occurred.
“In other water-related news, a tremendous sinkhole has mysteriously appeared below the dam on the southeastern side of Lake Assad in Syria. All of the blood flowing past the dam which would normally feed into the Euphrates is falling into the sinkhole. Global Republic geologists are speculating that recent events like the asteroid strikes and earthquakes have loosened barrier rocks which were separating the river from a humongous underground cavern system.
“GR geologists are unsure how deep the cavern system could be but hope that it will drain off much of the blood so that when the rains return, the river will flow unpolluted more quickly than if the rains had to wash away the blood little by little.”
Everett picked at his food as he listened. Even though he’d heard it all the night before, he paid close attention for anything he might have missed.
A different GRBN reporter, a man with a British accent, began a new broadcast. “This is Archibald Cromwell for the Global Republic Broadcasting Network, and this is a breaking news alert. His High and Most Prepotent Majesty Angelo Luz has issued an emergency call to arms. The Holy Luzian Empire’s Ministry of Defense is in need of all able-bodied citizens to report to the nearest Peacekeeping station to register for service. Stations will be equipped to begin accepting volunteers at six o’clock tomorrow morning, local time.
“In case you’re just tuning in and are not yet aware of this urgent need, I will review this morning’s developments. As you know, the empire had to take all terrestrial and celestial surveillance systems off-line to preserve the hardware while the Earth passed through the electromagnetic waves of the unprecedented Coronal Mass Ejection from last week’s colossal solar flare.
“The Chinese-Russian Alliance used the blackout as an opportunity to move their military forces across Global Republic borders. Surveillance drones launched last night and satellite images transmitted this morning show a large build-up of Alliance troops, vehicles, and equipment positioned in Eastern Syria, Western Iraq, and in Turkey along the northern border of Syria.
“I’m glad we didn’t run into all of that on our way here!” Courtney paused from eating with her eyes wide open.
Ali shook his head. “Probably they moved forces down through Azerbaijan. Maybe even sending down cargo ship with many troop and equipments on Black Sea. This is much easier than go through Georgia. Too many mountain.”
Everett snapped his fingers. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out that the Martyrs of the Caliphate have formed some type of coalition with the Chinese-Russian Alliance.”
Rabbi Hertzog raised his eyebrows. “That would explain why the jihadis in Sivas seemed to be in such a high state of military readiness.”
Everett looked at the rabbi. “Yep. We probably threw a wrench in their plan.”
“So this is it.” Courtney stared at the radio as if her mind were wandering off to another place. “Armageddon.”
Everett nodded slowly. “This is it. This is the war to end all wars.”
“I hope we can ride it out here. I have no desire to have a front row seat for this one.” Rabbi Hertzog seemed apprehensive and didn’t eat much more after the announcement.
Everett turned the radio up slightly to hear the rest of the broadcast.
The reporter continued, “Thousands of tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery guns, and logistical support vehicles continue to stream down from Russia and across the deserts of Iran in what can be termed as nothing other than a full military invasion. The saber-rattling and rhetoric that has continued between the Global Republic and the Chinese-Russian Alliance over the past seven years seems to have finally come to a head. His Majesty has given every opportunity for the two hold-out nations to enter the fold and join the rest of the globe in the Aquarian age of prosperity and peace. He has sent delegation after delegation, all of whom have been rejected by a headstrong people who seem to have chosen all-out war over dialogue and reason.”
“Did I miss something? Who has had peace and prosperity in the last seven years?” Courtney crosse
d her arms tightly.
“I’m sure Angelo Luz and Pope Peter have fared rather well over the past few months.” Rabbi Hertzog chuckled.
The reporter proceeded with his communication, “It is important to note that the open call for military enlistment is primarily for support roles rather than active combat positions. Analysts expect most of the active fighting by the Holy Luzian Empire to be done by advanced robotics such as drones and remote attack vehicles or hybrid soldiers which have been developed in anticipation that this conflict with the Alliance would ultimately culminate in a hot war.
The hybrid soldiers or supersoldiers have been bred from test tubes using human genetic components along with enhanced features from other species both from this planet and from the Watchers. Of course, cross-species compatibility was achieved through the CRISPR Cas9 gene-editing process.
Since part of the soldiers’ biological make-up comes from the Watchers, it is only fitting that His Majesty should invite three of the Watchers to act as generals in the Holy Luzian Empire’s Army. The three who were chosen to come assist our race in defending against this horrendous attack are all personal friends of His Majesty Angelo Luz’s father. Their names are Semyaza, Azazel, and Amezarak.”
“Hmm.” The rabbi’s brows knitted tightly together.
“You know these guys?” Courtney asked.
“From the Book of Enoch. Azazel was the Watcher who taught men to make swords. Amezarak taught the art of witchcraft and spells. Semyaza is their leader.” A deep tone of concern filled the rabbi’s voice.