THE DAY: A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series) (7 page)

War
Room – Israeli Defense Force

IDF
HaKirya
Compound, Tel Aviv

              
Israel’s
Prime Minister slowly placed the red handset back on the crisis phone on the
massive table in the Israeli War Room. All twenty of the people in the room,
three levels below street level under the
HaKirya
Compound in Tel Aviv, were carefully watching Israel’s leader. They were
all ear witnesses to one side of the Prime Minister’s heated conversation
with the President of the United States. Though none heard the words spoken by
the leader of the free world, it was painfully obvious that he was offering
Israel nothing. No change of mind. No defense. No military assistance.
Nothing.

              
Israel’s
Defense Minister was standing against the wall of the war room. He moved
forward, placing his hand on the Prime Minister’s shoulder. "
It’s OK
,
Bebe
,
you did what you could. We knew when he wouldn’t take your many previous
calls that he was going to choke, to refuse to help us. I take it that
he’s still
sticking with
his
‘we won’t interfere in your little local conflict’
line."

              
"
No
, Ben, the U.S. won’t be
helping.
God help us
."

              
"I
appreciated your conversion of his promise that America ‘had
Israel’s back’ into ‘you’re stabbing us in the
back’. I take it he didn’t exactly
appreciate
that, right?"

              
"Actually,
that’s when he terminated the call. By that point in the conversation I
knew it was over, so what harm was it to call it like it is? As he hung up he
said he would let me know if there’s any change, but we all know how
likely
that is."

              
"So,
gentlemen, since we can’t count on any military assistance from our
former closest ally we need to structure our response to the invaders
accordingly. Alert our remaining undamaged air wings
to be ready for
launch
.
What’s the current most forward location of the armored columns? How many
kilometers from Tel Aviv? "

              
The
General tasked with coordinating the defense of Israel replied,
"We’re about an hour, maybe fifty minutes, from
massive bloodshed
. Our recon shows that
the initial strike will be east of Tel Aviv at Petah
Tikva
.
We’ve of course alerted everyone. As you know, there are about 200,000
residents in Petah
Tikva
. It looks like they will be
the largest metropolitan area hit first."

              
The
Prime Minister rubbing his temples, clearly in distress, suggested,
"Well, it’s appropriate that the battle line will first be in the
Valley of
Achor
, at the city named from Hosea’s
prophecy,
‘the opening of
hope’."

              
The
Defense Minister nodded in agreement, saying, "As you may recall, the
first attack on our Jewish ancestors took place in Petah
Tikva
,
back in the late 1800’s. So, yes, it’s very appropriate that the
first major assault will be at Petah
Tikva
. My
grandchildren live in Petah
Tikva
. Let’s pray
that our IDF boys and girls can hold off the invaders long enough for Petah
Tikva’s
residents to either flee or get securely
behind their safe room doors. If not, let it be always known that the blood of
our brothers and sisters….and grandchildren….will be on
the hands
of America’s President.
On America itself
."

Western/Wailing
Wall (
Kotel
)

Jerusalem,
Israel

              
The
Western Wall had been called the Wailing Wall for centuries, as mourners would kiss
the stones and bemoan the destruction of the Temple. Jewish tradition held that
Solomon had placed the foundation stones underlying the
Wall,
with others holding that Herod the Great had authorized the edifice upon that
foundation. The Western Wall is revered as a holy site, as close to the Temple
as one could come. Mourners frequently write prayers on small pieces of
paper,
roll them up and place them in the cracks of the
wall. Today’s tearful, mourning reaction to Rabbi Herzog’s words by
the now overflow crowd was in keeping with the name of the Wailing Wall.

              
Rabbi
Isaac David Herzog was weeping also, having just emphasized the difficult news
from scripture that no nation would come to Israel’s aid and its weapons
would be insufficient. The Chief Rabbi was only able to continue speaking
because he knew the rest of the story, the prophetic revelation given to the
Prophet Joel. Wiping his face, he continued, "Joel said, ‘
Alas
, for the day!’….
’Alas
, for the day!
’….But….
then
Joel wrote….for the day of
destruction….
from the Almighty
….will
come. Yes,
this is a day of destruction
.
Yes, many of our brothers and sisters have died and more will die as
this evil
army from the north sweeps
south….
but
…the Almighty
confirms this in His word. The invasion will happen, which it has, just as He
said. There will be
blood shed
in Israel, but Joel
tells us that
the Almighty will
become jealous for His land and will have
pity on His people
….As Joel urged, ‘
Fear not
, O land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done
great things’
and ‘Be glad,
O children of Zion and
rejoice in the
Lord your God’…..Why?

              
"Joel
conveys to us a special message written just for
this day
. God revealed to Joel that He will remove the northerner
far from us and will drive him into a parched and desolate land, destroying the
army, some in the eastern and western seas, with the stench and foul smell
arising from
their slain bodies
. The
Prophet Ezekiel foresaw the same invasion of Israel. He prophesied God’s
anger would arise against those
defiling
His land
and coming to
kill His
people. He promised
that the invading fighting men would
fall
on the mountains and on the open
fields.
Will you join me as we pray
?

              
"Almighty
Jehovah God, just as you instructed, we have sounded the Shofar, we have
gathered
a Solemn Assembly,
we are
fasting, praying and seeking
Your
face and Your will.
We thank
You
that You knew from the beginning of time that this great and powerful army
would come against
Your land and Your
people
. We pray for our people in
Your
land who
are suffering and dying.
We weep, we
mourn, we implore
You
to fulfill Your Word given
in the Holy Scriptures to Joel and Ezekiel. We pray that
You
turn in your righteous anger and act.
We pray that the great
earthquake, and torrential rains, and hailstones and fire and sulfur, about
which the Prophets wrote, will soon fall on these evil invaders of
Your
sacred land
. As the Prophet Joel wrote,
‘The Lord utters His voice before His army, for His camp is
exceedingly great
; He who executes His
Word
is powerful’
.
Please, Almighty Jehovah
….
save us
, we pray, for there is
no force on this earth
that can do so
, except for
You
.
Amen and Amen."

              
In
response to Rabbi Herzog’s pleas, millions in Israel, denying their
bodies food by fasting, also earnestly and fervently prayed for a miracle of
God.

              
The
Shofar sounded a long wailing, rising sound.

Hannah
and Gary’s Family Room

Birmingham,
Alabama

              
The
six remaining members of their small group Bible study were huddled around the
television. What they were seeing was not only history in the making, but
spiritually disturbing. Israel’s Prime Minister had just finished making
what he called a ‘final plea’ for the United States to send its
military resources into Israel to stop what he said would be the
‘wholesale massacre of Israelites’ in Tel Aviv and soon throughout
Israel. Fox’s network talking head summarized the PM’s passionate
call for help from America, but was interrupted by breaking news from the White
House.

              
"Whew!"
Scott exclaimed, "This could be it. The President may have seen the light
and reversed course. It may be that we’re about to hear that America is
coming to the rescue. It’s really late….the invaders are close to
entering Tel Aviv….lots of dead people in towns on the way to Tel Aviv.
But….if we send in American jets and our troops now, we could still spare
millions of people….there, watch. It’s the Secretary of
Defense….never liked that guy much….but….okay….here he
goes…."

              
The
Secretary of Defense had apparently been delayed by media on his way into the
Executive Avenue entrance to the West Wing of the White House. The wind had
tosseled
his silvery hair, giving him a frazzled, even wild
look. The look in his eyes as he stared at the reporters who had stopped him
further enhanced the look of an important person who didn’t like being
disturbed. Glaring at the assembled media, he snarled, "We have,
again
, just heard from Israeli officials
in Jerusalem. They have,
again
,
requested that the US
interfere
, uh,
that is, intervene, in the
regional
disagreement
in the Middle East."

              
Scott
dropped his head into his hands, groaning, "
Oh, no
, this is
not
going
where it should."

              
After
looking at his watch and looking for any nearby aide who could rescue him, the
Defense Secretary continued, "The official position of the United States
government has
not
changed. We will
not
exacerbate what is already an
obviously tense situation by throwing our military might into
some other nation’s
controversy.
We would urge Israel to settle its
own
problems
and to desist from continually
badgering
us
to do something that we have made clear we will
never
do…..That’s all….I have a meeting with the
President."

              
Audrey
and Hannah were hugging each other. Sally, who had said for the last two years
that there was nothing that would cause her to move from the US, was
crestfallen. Wringing her hands, she burst out, "Can you guys
ever
forgive me? I know we talked about
this earlier, I apologized, but I just can’t get over the fact that we
had a chance to flee, and we willfully….
I willfully
….decided
not
to listen to what God was telling me in His Word. If I hadn’t been so
stupid, you all might have followed Marty and Tom and Liz and Max out of what
is
about to happen to us."

              
Scott
put his arms around his wife, comforting her, "Sally, my dear, I knew the
same things you knew. I studied the same verses. I knew in my heart that
America is the Daughter of Babylon prophesied in the Bible. It
can’t
be any other country. It
can’t
be ancient Babylon. I just
read in my Bible reading this morning that God told Jeremiah that after Israel
was captive in ancient Babylon that He would impose on Babylon an
everlasting
destruction. He kept His
word. Ancient Babylon is
still
a pile
of rubble.
America….
is….the
descendant of
Babylon
.
It was
both
of us, honey, who decided not to
obey all those verses to flee the Daughter of Babylon."

              
Everyone
was quiet,
then
Beau said, "I suggest that we go
straight to prayer. It’s quite obvious that the President of our country
has not only stabbed Israel in the back, now we’re
twisting
the blade, telling Israel to stop bothering us with its
repeated cries for help. God forgive us for
what
we are doing to Israel
. But, we
know
what He promises for those who
mis
-treat Israel.
So….we
know
we’re toast. The only remaining question is
when
do we head to our bolt hole, our safe house?"

              
Gary,
who had been quietly contemplative up to now, said, "Here’s the
deal. God’s response to our country’s betrayal of His chosen people
is imminent
. If I had to guess,
I’d say with this final announcement from the White House that
we’re not far from doom. If you ladies are right about how long our food
supplies will last, then getting us and what food we have over to our safe
house in a timely manner is
critical
.
Scott, you’ve been our point guy on the safe house. What’s your
plan once we see America under attack?"

              
Still
hugging Sally, Scott replied, "As you know, there are guys from twenty
small groups who’ve been planning what we would do if….
when
….disaster hits. We’ve
been meeting monthly. Though we’ve kept it very quiet, I can share with
you that we’ve selected an older, abandoned grade school building between
here and Pelham. It was closed due to school consolidation, moth-balled for
years. It’s not on any major road. It was built back in a wooded area
probably forty years ago.
Just one floor.
All brick.
Windows, of course, but not so
many that the building can’t be defended.
Central courtyard, so we
can use the outdoors, without going out of the building. Kitchen facilities so
we can prepare food for the hundred or so men, women and children who will live
there."

              
Audrey,
dabbing her eyes, whispered, "I just can’t believe that we’re
talking about hiding out in some
bunker
….Is
it really going to come to that?
Really?
"

              
Beau
not only looked like he was military, he had just retired from the Army
Reserves only a year ago. He replied, "Audrey, dear Audrey. We’re
not the
first
Christians, nor the
first humans to face truly tough times….war, destruction, death. In fact,
we’ve been blessed for years, for decades when we’ve lived quiet,
plentiful lives. But, nothing lasts forever, that is, except for God’s
word and people. What we do now, in face of what we know is about to come down
on this country, is we do what the Bible says, we see the danger and
we flee from it
…..I get that
it’s too late to flee the country. Foreign air travel has been restricted
since August, but that doesn’t mean that we should stay here, stay in our
homes and get picked off by every marauder, thief and murderer who knocks on
our door and asks for food. We have to
protect
ourselves,
protect our kids
."

              
Scott
joined in, standing as he spoke, "Brothers and sisters. The way we left
it with the other small group leaders who’ve been meeting to plan our
safe house is that we are
not
going
to wait around, mouths agape, scared silly once we see the US has been
attacked. Most folks will be so shocked in the first day or two that they
won’t know what to do. But for many all they will need is the mere hint
of widespread problems and they’ll be off to the grocery stores
like a shot
.
Wham
. Let’s grab all the food we can, they’ll say,
before somebody else does.
The result?
Empty store shelves everywhere. The gun stores
that still have weapons or any remaining ammo will likewise be picked clean.
Gas stations won’t last long."

              
Gary
asked, "What’s your estimate on
how
long
it will take?"

              
"Picture
this scene….because we’re about to actually see it. The nukes go
off. The media that survives report that American cities, all across the
country, have been hit….hit with nukes. The average Joe watching it on
his big screen at first won’t believe what he’s seeing.
How can this be
, he’ll ask? His
wife will say
what
are we going to
do
? That will make Joe start thinking,
yeah, what
are
we going to do?
He’ll remember that his truck is below a quarter
tank
on fuel – most guys can tell you the gas level on their cars, believe it
or not, ladies. So he jumps up, grabs his keys and starts for the door.
His wife asks, where are you going?
He says
,
to get some gas before everyone runs the tanks dry at the
gas stations. She says, but what about food? All we’ve got is what
we’ve got in the pantry and
the frig
. We were
gonna
stock up at Costco this weekend, she says. He
replies, okay, I’ll hit the grocery as soon as I get some gas."

              
Beau
added, "Multiply that scenario by the population of south Birmingham.
Everyone
panicking
at
once.
Remember what it was like in 2003 when the blizzard warnings came
out?"

              
"Yeah.
Within a few hours you couldn’t find a gallon
of milk or a loaf of bread. The lines at the gas stations were up to a mile
long, before they started waving people away because they were out of
gas."

              
"So,
what do we learn from all that?
",
Sally asked.

              
Beau
spoke slowly, "We….learn….that….we can’t wait
around once the first news comes that we’ve been attacked…..We
would have literally….
no time
….to
get organized. We have to be organized
now
,
which is what Scott has been doing. Scott, what did you guys decide we should
be doing once we got to this stage?"

              
"What
we decided was that we really don’t wait until the bombs go off. That
will trigger panic.
Clogged roads.
The whole bit.
We’re suggesting that everyone load up the trunks of the cars with food
that’s not refrigerated, guns and ammo, our warmest clothes for when it
gets cold and we don’t have power and, for the sentimental, a few family
pictures. Forget the laptops, and
ipads
,
iphones
,
ijunk
, none of
that’s going to be working a few days after the attacks. Forget electric
razors, too. And once the razor blades wear out, every man will be bearded. The
school is about ten minutes away for most of us, so we’ll possibly be
able to make a second, maybe a third trip back home, but
that’s it
. Then, once everyone’s in the school, we lock
it down and get ready for all
hel
….heck….to
break loose."

              
Hannah,
the practical member of the small group, asked, "But, Scott, we can pack
our trunks full now, but we’re not going to drive over and move into the
school
before
the nukes go off, are
we? How does the timing work?"

              
"Good
question, Hannah. We wrestled with that for some time. What we decided was that
everyone needs to keep their cell phones with them. Not in the car. Not in the
bedroom.
But,
with us
.
Once anyone in our group hears of the attack, even if it’s a sketchy
early report, call my cell. I’ll send a group text and alert the other
small group leaders. The plan is to get our family members gathered up,
wherever they may be,
quickly.
Loaded up.
Then get over to the school. We can park behind
the school and wait while we listen to the radio reports. Once we know for sure
that the U.S. has been attacked, we start unloading our stuff in the school.
One of the other leaders who
was
an administrator at
the school has keys to the school. Then we’ll try for a second load and
pray the roads aren’t clogged yet. We should be okay at that stage
because most folks will be in initial shock before
full panic
sets in."

              
 
"But Scott," Beau asked,
"What about our cars and trucks, we can’t leave them
there
,
they would
be a huge sign saying
‘there are
people in here’
."

              
"Correct.
Our plan is to drive to and scatter park the cars in a small sub-division,
about a mile away. Then walk back to the school. They’ll be close if we
need to get to them, but they won’t tip off our location."

              
"It
sounds like you fellows have thought of everything," Audrey said "
Have you?
Are we forgetting
anything?"

              
Beau
responded, "In war and in similar situations like we are about to face,
the one rule is that planning is
always
faulty. You can’t know what you don’t know, but I agree with you,
Audrey, Scott’s group has put a lot of thought into how we survive the
train wreck headed our way."

              
"I
don’t want to be too negative," Scott said, "but what we have
planned is for short term survival
only
.
Medium and long term?
Well, that’s
another
story that we can talk and pray
about when we have a lot of time at the school. On that somber note, I think
it’s time that we pray."