THE DAY: A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series)

by John Price

  "Rabbi, it’s too early to know. We have lost several thousand. They shed their blood while the U.S. dithered and swithered and then betrayed us, as you know. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the White House, or DC, or even in America for that matter, after what this President did to us. Don’t the scriptures say that God re-pays for the shedding of innocent blood?"

  "Yes, Bebe, He demands an accounting. Joel, by the way, tells us that one of the results of the miraculous divine intervention we are witnessing will be that Israel will know that God is in the midst of us, that He is the Lord our God and there is none else. Ezekiel says that through this God will make himself known in the eyes of many nations."

  "Rabbi, you can help insure that Israel never, never, never forgets what the Almighty has done on this day.

  "Well, sir, I agree with the sentiment, but God will ensure that we don’t forget. Joel says that afterward, that is after these acts of God in Israel, that He will pour out His spirit on all flesh, that our sons and our daughters shall prophesy, and our old men will dream dreams, and our young men will see visions. We should be ready to see great and mighty wonders in the days ahead."

  "Rabbi Herzog, I truly do appreciate all that you did for Israel in this perilous time. You heeded the call of the Lord given through Joel, and Israel has survived, praise His name. Sorry, but I need to get back to managing the mop up. Anything else?"

  "Just one thing, sir, if you have another few seconds Can we pray?"

  "Certainly. Please."

  "Almighty and gracious God, we thank you for loving this land and its people. We praise you for telling us in advance how you would save us when wicked and evil men would seek to destroy Israel. Help the families of those here who lost their lives and shed their blood today….Almighty God we know that many, if not most, of those who sought to do us great harm have themselves instead lost their own lives today. We pray for their families….And, finally, we pray for the nation which betrayed us. We know from the Torah that those who curse Israel will be cursed. You have blessed America in the past when it blessed Israel, now we pray for your mercy on America….in the midst of your severe judgment. Amen and amen."

  26

  Beau and Audrey’s Bed Room

  Birmingham, Alabama

  "Beau, its Scott. I’m really sorry to call you at this hour of the morning."

  "Whoa….what time is it….uh….3:40? Sure hope this is import…."

  "Listen, Beau, my brother just called. You remember Carl, he’s the one who works at that secret Air Force installation under Cheyenne Mountain."

  "OK. So….I’m still wakin’ up, sorry. So….what did Carl say?"

  "He just read a flash message out of Israel. Something’s happening in Tel Aviv. Something big….Carl knows what we believe about what the Bible says, so he went out in the hall and called me on his cell."

  "I’m awake now, Scott. What’s happening? What did he tell you?"

  "You’re not gonna’ believe what….oh, yeah of course you will. The Air Force is getting reports….and video from Israel showing what look like fireballs and sheets of flame, lots of them, falling from the sky and taking out the invaders. One report, he said, described them as ‘burning sulfur. He said that the guys in the Pentagon are perplexed. They stay in touch with Israeli defense agencies and they’ve heard nothing about such a weapon. Carl says….get this….coming from my brother the unbeliever….I’m sorry to say. He says that the guys in the Pentagon are referring to this as ‘the fire and brimstone weapon’."

  "Whoa! What do these things do when they hit?"

  "Beau, this is where it gets weird. Carl said the first reports show that these fireballs and sheets of flame are only landing on the invading troops and their equipment. They don’t appear to be hitting areas of Tel Aviv, or outside Tel Aviv in the areas still under the control of the Israeli Defense Forces. When they hit, they splatter and splash burning substances on the soldiers and their trucks and tanks. What’s even weirder, if that’s possible, is that they have video showing the Russkies spraying fire foam on the fires started by these celestial fires and it doesn’t do any good. But, get this, besides these fireballs and sheets of flame, they are getting heavy rain and hailstones, all at the same time. You’d think the rain would put out the fires when they hit, but instead he said it’s like the rain and hailstones are spreading the fires. Nobody’s ever seen anything like this. When you were with the Army do you recall hearing anything about these burning sulfur fireballs and sheets of flame?"

  "Nope. Never. Without jumping to a conclusion, this sure sounds like God at work. Fireballs from heaven? That sounds like fire and brimstone. Rain and hailstone? Scott, we looked at the prophecies, I think it was in Ezekiel, in either chapter 38 or 39, that God Himself would intervene when Israel would be attacked in the future. But, you know, Scott what this undoubtedly means? You know….what’s going to ….to….happen next?"

  "I know, that’s all I’ve been thinking about since I hung up from Carl’s call. Now that God has stepped into the battle to save Israel from total destruction, how long can it be before the U.S. is toast? Ezekiel, as I recall, said that when God comes to Israel’s rescue it will be….what was his phrase? Oh, yeah, hot anger. Ezekiel said God’s hot anger would be aroused. Since He has had to come to Israel’s defense, given that the President as late as yesterday continued to say no to Israel’s cries for help, then we can only come to one conclusion. Right?"

  "It’s over….it’s over. America is about to be nuked. My heart rate is about double what it was when you called, Scott…..You know we need to get ready. We need to…."

  "Check. It’s almost four AM, so given what we suspect about God’s patience with America about to run out, we’d better gather everyone early tomorrow morning. We’ve discussed this before. The attacks on the country will come on a work day for maximum deaths. Tomorrow’s a work day. The prophecies we studied imply that when God acts to punish the Daughter of Babylon/Babylon the Great He won’t wait around. When the destruction that He allows happens it will take place in one day, one hour and one moment. We need to gather at Hannah and Gary’s very first thing in the morning. We can watch the news and then, if we’re right about the timing, we can leave immediately for the Irwin grade school before the roads fill up with panicked people."

  "Agreed. Let’s not wake up our wives and kids or Gary’s family now. Right before six I’ll roust our family up, feed them and head over to Hannah and Gary’s house."

  "OK, Beau, I’ll call Gary at six. See you at their house in three hours give or take. Say your prayers, brother. Our lives are about to not only change, but in a few weeks we won’t even recognize them, for how different things will become. May God help us."

  27

  Air Force One

  Above West Virginia

  The President was livid. The White House Communications Center had just attempted, again, to get him to take a call from the Prime Minister of Israel. He wasn’t about to talk to him. He was tired of the constant pleas, multiple times a day, for the U.S. to intervene in the invasion of Israel by Russia, Iran and other Muslim allies. What part of no does he not understand the President wondered? Have I not been clear?

  The Air Force Colonel assigned to convey messages to the President while he was on Air Force One opened the cabin door to the air borne Presidential office. He was met by a visibly unhappy President. "Colonel, didn’t I just say I won’t take the PM’s call? Is he calling me again?"

  "Mister President, sir, yes, but he says…."

  "No buts. Just tell him no….got it?"

  "But….Mister President….he said he understands you won’t take his call, but he wants you to know something before it’s all over the media."

  "Hunh….what? Exactly what did he say?"

  "I’m reading, sir, just as he said it. ‘Tell the President that something major has just happened in Israel.’"

  "What?....What’s he talking about? I swear, Colonel, if this is another attempt to
get us involved in his messy little problem…."

  "The rest of his message, sir, is, ‘Israel is experiencing what he called fireballs and sheets of flame, falling selectively on the areas where the invading troops are concentrated’.

  "Say it one more time. I don’t understa…."

  "Fire falling from the sky and enormous amounts of rain. Oh, and he said they’ve had a major earthquake. Maybe an 8.9. Maybe higher he said."

  "Is that it? Didn’t he ask, again, for military help from the US?"

  "No, sir."

  "Humph. That’s a first. Wonder why he didn’t ask for…."

  "Right before he terminated the call, Mister President, the Prime Minister said….I didn’t write this down, sorry, sir. He said something like, ‘It looks like we won’t need America, our defense is coming from a higher source, mightier than the US.’ Or something like that, sir, I got the idea."

  "Humh….Send Jeff back here. I need him to pull up some intell on the monitors and find out what the heck the PM’s talking about. Like now."

  II

  THE

  DAY

  "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will pay her what she deserves." (Jeremiah 51:6)

  "I am God, and there is none other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose....' " (Isaiah 46:9-11).

  28

  Ten American Cities

  The signals from Moscow and Tehran were flashed simultaneously and received immediately by operatives on their encrypted cell phones. The words were in Russian and Pashto, but interpreted they meant the same thing: CLIMB MOUNT NIITAKA. It was the same signal sent in 1941 from Tokyo to Japanese forces poised to attack Pearl Harbor. Vladimir, a student of history, had chosen the words to be used in the signal as a Russian form of dark humor, as the nuclear weapons about to exploded in response to the signal would be detonated inside the only nation ever to have used nuclear weapons on humans.

  Designated secure cell phones in ten American cities vibrated, alerting their owners that a message had arrived. The Russian and Iranian operatives carefully followed the news from the Middle East and were quite well aware that the time for action was near. The hour on which they were to fulfill their highly-trained tasks was fast approaching.

  Upon receipt of the early morning coded message each agent knew that the clock was now ticking. At 12 noon central standard time the nuclear weapons under their control were to be detonated. Six of the operatives knew that their lives were almost at an end, as they were committed to manually trigger their assigned weapons, with no possible way to escape the detonation zone. The others had been furnished with timing devices attached to the nuclear weapons for which they were responsible.

  Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Las Vegas, Houston and Seattle. Ten cities. Ten future cemeteries.

  The clock ticked. 12:00 Noon central standard time approached. The hour had been chosen to maximize the deaths in the chosen cities. Not too early in the morning before employees arrived, not too late in the day. Maximum deaths.

  11:58 – The world turned. The economy of the world and of America had been experiencing significant, even catastrophic problems. But the dollar was still the globe’s most accepted currency. Millions of former employees in the United States were out of work, but millions more were working. Many were working in the office buildings in the ten chosen American cities.

  11:59 – The digital counters in four cities counted down. In six cities the agents sat or stood next to the nuclear devices previously smuggled into the country, with their fingers on the detonation button. They recited their prayers, saying "Allahu Akbar, Subhana Rabbiyal A'ala, Subhana Rabbiyal A'ala Subhana Rabbiyal A'ala."

  29

  The Mall - Washington, DC

  Abdul Azim Mahaz drove the cargo van which appeared to be owned by a carpet store in Falls Church, Virginia. His brother, Yaqubi, drove the van bearing the identification of an automobile glass repair service. At the last minute, Abdul decided to substitute his wife, Naveen, as the driver of the third van, labeled as owned by a house remodeling business. His cousin was to have driven the van, but Abdul had last minute doubts of the young man’s ability to accomplish the mission.

  The doors on the large garage on the rented home in Landover Hills, Maryland were opened and the vans exited into the home’s cul-de-sac. Abdul, Yaqubi and Naveen checked that their cell phones were working properly. Abdul didn’t need to give a pre-determined signal, as each van’s nuclear weapon was on a timer now set for 1 PM. The three vans left the Maryland upscale sub-division and headed towards U.S. 50. Once on the heavily traveled highway, the vans separated by several car lengths. Abdul knew from his previous practice run that he could easily make it down New York Avenue and onto the federal Mall area before 1 PM, which was 12 noon central standard time – the moment set for detonation.

  Naveen was in the lead van. As she neared the outskirts of DC she had to hit the van’s brakes as traffic in front of her came to a standstill. She nervously picked up her cell. After punching her husband’s contact number, she said, "Abdul. This could be a problem. Traffic is stopped. Up ahead I can see red flashing lights and at least three police cars. Should we turn around?"

  "Naveen. Don’t worry. It’s probably nothing. I have an app that carries traffic alerts. I’ll check it and call you right back. Allah is in control, blessed be his name. Oh, here’s Yaquib calling in. I’ll call you back."

  Abdul quickly checked his WAZ app and learned that there was a traffic accident less than a mile ahead, that it involved a semi-truck and a cattle truck. Estimates for the length of delay were up to forty-five minutes to clear the highway of cattle carcasses spread across the DC bound lanes as a result of the collision.

  Abdul was concerned, edging on panic. Sweat began to cover his neck and forehead. This day was the day for America to die. He had been entrusted with the destruction of the capital city of the Great Satan. He could not fail. He could not even be delayed, for he knew that all of the nuclear devices were to be detonated at the same time today. If he failed to get the three vans into governmental DC by the ignition time, by even a few minutes, the city would escape destruction, merely blowing up adjoining suburbs. He had been warned that, upon hearing of detonations in other cities DC would be put into a full lock down, barring any future incoming traffic into governmental Washington. The three cargo vans must not miss the time, miss getting to the Mall and miss the most critical part of today’s planned destruction of America, cutting off the head of the snake. Washington, DC could not be allowed to survive. He had to get his vans out of this traffic, but how?

  Abdul pounded his steering wheel. He wiped his brow. Just as he was about to lose control he remembered that his app included an alternate route option for traffic stoppages. Grabbing the cell, he opened the app again and saw that not a quarter mile behind him was a crossroads that would lead to a local road which ran straight south to New York Avenue. Abdul alerted Naveen and Yaquib to the new plan. Then he slowly drove out of his stopped lane, across the grass median and headed north. He saw in his rear view mirror that there were several vehicles also crossing the median, including the other two vans. Encountering no additional significant delays, at 12:32 PM Abdul, Naveen and Yaquib arrived at the Mall in Washington, DC. By prior arrangement, they made sure that their weaponized vans were several blocks apart as they drove continuously around the four sides of the long grassy park area known as the Mall. Not wanting to alert any potential cell scanners, Abdul’s only message to his fellow van drivers was a texted "We will be with the Blessed One in just a few minutes".

  30

  Unit 4501, 700 Lake Shore Drive

  Chicago, Illinois

  It was windy in Chicago. Not that a windy Chicago was unu
sual, but the wind today off of the lake was so blustery that it made the condo tower slightly sway, just as it was designed to do. When Muhammad ben Sarkori went to the bathroom he noticed the small ripples on the surface of the water in the toilet, which he had only witnessed on rare occasion. Well, he thought, high winds will be the least of this city’s worries in a few more minutes. Finishing the visit to his marble lined bathroom, he glanced up at the clock in the long hallway of his condo. Ten more minutes. Ten minutes….and then the world will change. Forever.

  As soon as Muhammad ben Sarkori, whose cover name in America was Alfred H. Carlsberg, received the "Climb Mount Niitaka" message on his encrypted cell phone early in the morning he began to make his preparations. The actual detonation of the nuclear weapon, which was contained behind two inches of lead in his massive coffee table, was by remote control. His only, and singular, assigned duty was to live in the sumptuous Chicago high rise condo until the time of the detonation, insuring that no one, especially no government snoop, came into the condo and somehow discovered the weapon. When he received the coded signal for detonation from his Iranian contact in the US he knew his job was nearly over. As dhuhr prayer time arrived, he unrolled his prayer mat and began, "Allahu Akbar. Subhana rabbiyal adheem. Sam’i Allahu liman hamidah, Rabbana wa lakal hamd."

  . Down below the high rise, traffic on Michigan Avenue was flowing slowly, as it did normally, accommodating the tens of thousands of vehicles conveying the workers of Chicago to their offices. Muhammad ben Sarkori finished his prayers and walked over to the full length windows which looked south to the loop and downtown Chicago. He mused that this would be his last time to look out on one of the world’s great cities, but he delighted himself in remembering that America, and Israel, must be destroyed in order for Islam to conquer the world. ‘Allah be praised’, he breathed, ‘Allah be praised’.