The Called: Chosen (The Called Series Book 2) (16 page)

“I would guess probably ninety percent. Most of these men and women have come from small town, USA. They are very loyal to their country.”

“This is good”, said Cain. “I would rather have a smooth transition in this regard rather than fight though a situation where we have disobedience in the military. Let’s give everyone one week to request honorable discharge if they would rather support the World Council. We need to be at full strength if we are going to put up a fight.”

“I agree completely sir”, said William. “I also suggest that we keep an open line of communication with Britain as they have been dealing with a similar situation there. We need to be on the same page. Right now, they are our only sure fire ally.”

“Get them on the phone as soon as you leave here”, said Liam. “Oh…and how is Jay taking all of this?”

“I’ll be honest sir. He is pretty irate that you have joined the conservative cause and gone against Assad and the World Council. He never came out and said it, but I have a feeling that he would have been completely okay with it if you had died.”

“Well, we are going to need to do something about that”, said Liam. “I am sure that this has happened all the way through our government from the top to the bottom.”

“What do you think we should do sir?” asked William.

“We could essentially do the same thing that we will do with the military”, said Liam. “We could give everyone a week to resign. If they do not, then we will assume they are supporting our cause. If we are going to have the Constitution back in place, then anyone who is supportive of the enemy can and will be imprisoned for treason.”

“With all of the prisons for Christians that are open down both coasts, maybe we could shut those down and free them. We could repurpose them for traitors to the United States”, said William.

“There is one problem with that”, said Liam. “Those are state facilities. Your party campaigned against the federal government intruding on state’s rights for years.”

“I guess you can call me a flip-flopping politician then”, said William. “I would be willing to change my position for this circumstance, and I know that several of my colleagues would as well.”

“Well, we will see what we can do. The motion would need to be passed through the House and the Senate first”, said Liam.

“If most in your party resign, then we should have a pretty good chance”, said William jokingly.

“There is truth to that statement”, said Liam. “This is just uncharted territory. I just pray that history doesn’t repeat itself with another Civil War.”

About that time, the doctor walked in and asked Liam how he was doing. “I am doing alright”, said Liam. “A little groggy and my throat is pretty scratchy. I haven’t even tried to move around yet. I can tell it’s going to hurt pretty badly.”

“Well, take it easy”, said the doctor. “You have had severe internal trauma from the bullet wound. We will keep you in the bed for a few more days to give your body more time to heal and then we will start trying to get up.”

“Good”, said Liam. “I’m ready to get this catheter out.”

The doctor laughed and asked, “Do we need more pain meds or are we good?”

“I’m feeling okay right now”, said Liam.

“Well, if you need anything at all, just call and we will be right here to help you. We want to give you your privacy as well.”

“Thank you doctor.”

The police cruiser quickly pulled up next to Maggie, Chaim, and Commander Murray. They all looked over in unison and saw something that they didn’t expect. It was DeShawn. He had somehow gotten out of the underground hideout and made his way out of New York with the rest of the believers.

Maggie was shocked considering he was in such bad shape when she left him just moments before the bombing began. “There is no way he could have had surgery”, said Maggie. “He looked like he was bleeding to death.”

“I wonder why he is in a police car”, said Chaim. “It looks pretty new. He had to have stolen it.”

“Well, let’s find out”, said Commander Murray. “Let’s pull over and talk to him.”

They pulled the car over and stopped. DeShawn got out of the car with his arms outstretched. His shoulder and arm was wrapped up in bandages, but he looked like he felt much better than he had before.

“DeShawn!” said Maggie. “How did you get out of there in your condition?”

“Well Mag, I went to the other bunker with the medical personnel just in time. They were able to work some magic with the first aid kit after they discovered that it was just a surface wound. It wasn’t as serious as it looked.”

“Thank God”, said Chaim. “How are you feeling?”

“Not too bad”, said DeShawn. “I feel a little weak but the pain meds they gave me are working pretty well.”

“Do you think you should be driving?” asked Commander Murray.

“I was hoping I could catch up and hitch a ride with somebody. You are the first van I have seen since I got on the road.”

“I think we were the last ones to leave”, said Murray.

“Yea, I had to fight through a group of World Council soldiers to get out of there”, said DeShawn. “By the time I got to the parking garage, there were no vehicles left.”

“So you stole a police cruiser?” asked Murray.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say ‘stole’. I borrowed it and I will leave it right here for them to pick it up.”

“How did you get to it?” asked Chaim.

“Apparently all of the activity in the area alerted the police and one of them was brave enough to drive into the neighborhood to check it out. He left it on while he looked around at the burning craters in the ground, so I saw the opportunity to drive a fast vehicle out of New York.”

“We’re glad you caught up to us”, said Maggie. “I seriously thought you were dead.”

“I must have nine lives”, said DeShawn.

“Or divine protection”, said Murray.

“Alright buddy. Jump in with us”, said Chaim. “We don’t need any real law enforcement coming up and seeing this.”

DeShawn got in the car with them and they headed off again toward the south. It wasn’t long before they could see the lights of Philadelphia ahead. They were going through one of the most dangerous legs of their journey now starting with the city of brotherly love. They still claimed that name but only for their own kind. Christians weren’t allowed in the city. The same went for Baltimore and Washington, DC.

All three of the cities were experiencing serious civil unrest in the wake of President Cain and the United States’ decision to leave the World Council and fight for their sovereignty. Most of the people doing the rioting didn’t really care one way or the other. They were just looking for an excuse to steal and destroy.

The sun was setting to their right as they closed in on Philadelphia. They would use the bypass to try to miss some of the madness, but they could already see the pillars of smoke from a few miles away. Whole neighborhoods had been burnt to the ground and hundreds of lives had been lost due to the violence.

Maggie swallowed a lump in her throat as they exited onto the bypass. “This is just terrible”, she said. “I didn’t realize that things were this bad up here. It happened so quickly.”

“What do you think made President Cain change his mind so quickly from one extreme to the other?” asked DeShawn.

Commander Murray spoke up and said, “I’ll tell you what I think and I may be completely wrong. The only thing I can think of that would cause a person to change their stance from liberal politics to conservative politics so quickly would be a salvation experience. I believe he was saved and is now one of us.”

“That may be a stretch”, said DeShawn. “I mean, look at his track record. I would have to hear it from his own lips to believe that and I don’t see that happening any time soon. The man was already shot as soon as he made the announcement that the U.S. wasn’t going to play the new world order game with everybody else.”

“Speaking of that…” said Murray, “I think that Assad knew this was going to happen. He had to have planted the gunman. It had to have been an unknowing victim of cerebral reconditioning that was responsible for the assassination attempt. He took a very long shot in a heavily guarded area and hit his target. It’s obvious that he knew what he was doing, but perhaps he didn’t know who he was. We’ve been keeping an eye on this alarming trend and I don’t like it one bit.”

“Do you think that’s what they are planning for John?” asked Maggie.

Murray was immediately regretful that he brought that up but he couldn’t lie to her. “Yes”, he said. “Unfortunately, that’s the case. They will wipe every memory of his own life and put in new ones. They know that the most hurtful thing that they could do to us is to see a brother or sister become one of their machines. If or when he finds us, we will have to do whatever we have to do to protect ourselves. He won’t be John anymore.”

―――――

A week had passed since the attempted attack on Adnan Bahar’s plane after leaving the United States, but in Samyaza’s mind it was still very fresh. The anger and rage that he had toward the United States that they would ever try such a foolish thing had not been quelled. In fact, it had only festered and grown.

“I have something very special planned for them tomorrow”, he said to Adnan. “I’ve been working on a plan of attack this week and it will shake them to their core. They will have no choice but to come crawling back or choose complete annihilation.”

“What do you plan on doing?” asked Adnan.

“I have a three phase plan”, said Assad. “The first thing I will do is to completely disarm their navy and coast guard. They will have no protection on either coast or in the Gulf of Mexico. I will accomplish this with long range missiles that we have stationed in Japan, Brazil, Iceland, and Cuba. We have enough to cripple them. Next, all of our World Council forces on the ground will infiltrate and take every military base in the United States as our own by brute force and air support. Lastly, we will cripple their economy by bombing every major city across the nation; especially the coastal cities.”

“Good”, said Adnan. “They deserve this for defying you. If they don’t want to be a part of our world, then they don’t deserve a place on the map.”

“They will bow to me”, said Assad defiantly. “If they do not, then I will make it a place that is unlivable for any creature. It will be a smoking pile of rubble before I allow them to ruin our plan.”

“What shall we do with their President?” asked Adnan.

“He will be taken into custody and made an example of all across the world. Everyone will see the price of disobedience to our way of life.”

“And what of Britain?” asked Adnan.

“It won’t require as much to cripple them, but I have the same plans for them. London will burn to the ground”, said Assad.

“How do you think the world will look at this?” asked Adnan.

“It doesn’t matter”, said Assad. “Anyone who is loyal to me will support the cause.”

“What do you think of Israel?” asked Adnan. “There have been some questions raised about their loyalty to us.”

“I think that they will remain loyal”, said Assad. “Their temple will be completely finished in two weeks and I have blessed it. The only peace that they have experienced in their history is because of me. They know that every surrounding country could wipe them off the map if I chose to let them.”

“You are right”, said Adnan. “We have nothing to worry about with Israel. Most of them believe that you are Messiah.”

“Rightly so”, said Assad arrogantly.

“What about your messengers?” asked Adnan. “Are they going to be ready soon?”

“Yes”, said Assad. “They are gaining strength in the physical realm and they will soon be ready to appear to everyone on earth. Once they come, most of the remaining holdouts will believe that I am god.”

“What will they look like”, asked Adnan.

“Like angels of light of course”, said Assad. “Their true form would scare people. We don’t want to do that. We want to guide them to belief in me. I am counting on you a great deal to make sure that the people in every country are giving me proper worship. You will be charged with overseeing every temple leader. Everyone will worship my image.”

“The artificial intelligence is quite impressive”, said Adnan. “It is an experience unlike anything that any religion has ever had before. It is truly groundbreaking and I am proud to be a part of it.”

“That’s why I have called you to be my prophet Adnan. You are unwavering in your faith in me and you carry that passion into seeing others believe in me. When I reveal myself for who I truly am, then you will be reaping the rewards.”

―――――

Charles had a few days to process the situation with the daughter he never knew he had. He had already explained the situation to his two girls and they seemed to be alright with it; even excited. That was partly due in part to her being an up and coming country music star who was touring with a big name act. Abbie had already left New York to head to the next city on the tour, which just happened to be Knoxville, Tennessee.

With all the stress that had been on him lately, Charles decided that he needed to take a sabbatical from work. He was confident in Nick’s ability to continue operating in his absence. He even dared wonder to himself if he would ever go back. His work just wasn’t as important to him as it used to be. There were several other pressing issues in his life right now that needed attention.

He found himself with his daughters, Caitlin and Raelynn, at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville. The invitation had been extended from Abbie for them to come see her play anytime. After around a week to let everything sink in, Charles decided it was time to go see her and maybe even get to know her a little bit.

As Charles and his girls walked through the terminal, Abbie was running to get to their meeting spot. She arrived just in time to see them walk out and wave at her. The girls all hurried toward each other and embraced. There was no awkwardness at all. It was as if they had known each other all of their lives.

Charles on the other hand, was a little more awkward. He walked up just in time to try and figure out whether to go in for the hug or the weird handshake. He opted for the handshake just as Abbie held her arms out for a hug.

“Oh”, Charles said embarrassed. He pulled his hand back and obliged with a hug. “It’s good to see you”, he said. “Thank you for the tickets and the hotel. The girls and I really appreciate the kind gesture.”

“It’s my pleasure”, said Abbie. “I’m so glad you all could make it.”

They all walked together through the airport until they came to the limo waiting outside. All of their luggage had been loaded for them before they even got there.

“Wow. That’s impressive service”, said Charles.

“I know right”, said Abbie. “One of the best airports I have ever seen… and my driver isn’t too shabby either.”

They got into the car and headed down the road towards the hotel to check in before the show started later in the evening. The conversation started as small talk, but soon moved to major topics such as spirituality and politics.

“So, you basically work for Assad now?” asked Abbie.

“I guess you can say that”, said Charles. “Although, I don’t think I am going to continue along that path.”

“Well, it sounds like a great job. What’s keeping you from it?” asked Abbie.

“I have seen Assad up close and what I see just doesn’t set well with me.”

“That makes two of us”, said Abbie. “Ever since I had an experience with …”

Abbie stopped herself because she wasn’t sure what Charles would think of her faith.

“Your experience with what?” asked Charles.

“I’m not sure that I can say”, said Abbie. “I just have certain beliefs about things that aren’t widely accepted and certainly not by your boss.”

“Assad is not my boss”, said Charles. “Besides, you can tell me anything. I won’t hold it against you or think any less of you.”

“Are you sure”, asked Abbie apprehensively.

“Absolutely”, said Charles. “You are my own flesh and blood.”

“Okay”, said Abbie. “I will tell you. I have had a conversion experience. I am a believer in Jesus Christ.”

“Uh…wow”, said Charles. “Definitely not what I expected, but to each their own. I can’t judge. You know that’s dangerous these days right?”

“Oh, I know it very well”, said Abbie. “Imagine trying to hold these beliefs while being in the spotlight.”

“I couldn’t imagine”, said Charles.

“I feel like I am trying to live a lie. I have this fire inside of me and I am getting tired of trying to contain it. I just want to let it out and let the whole world know.”