THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2) (20 page)

Interstate
70 – East of Columbus, Ohio

        
The signs on Interstate 70 started two miles before the
checkpoint. The first, in brilliant white reflective letters on a vibrant green
background, read:

PREPARE
FOR STOP 2 MILES AHEAD

FEDERAL
ACCESS CHECKPOINT

HAVE
YOUR ID READY

TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY AUTHORITY – ANTI-TERRORISM DIVISION

        
The next sign read:

ACCESS
CHECKPOINT 1 MILE AHEAD

YOUR
ID WILL BE VERIFIED

NO
VALID ID – NO FURTHER ACCESS

TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY AUTHORITY – ANTI-TERRORISM DIVISION

        
Five hundred feet from the checkpoint was displayed a sign
that read:

THERE
IS NO RIGHT OF ACCESS ALONG THIS HIGHWAY

WITHOUT
A VALID ID FOR EACH PERSON IN VEHICLE

ANY
PERSON POSSESSING A GUN WILL BE DETAINED

TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY AUTHORITY – ANTI-TERRORISM DIVISION

        
Wally and Cindy had seen television coverage of the new
interstate highway checkpoints. After the ‘religious rebellion’ bombings that
had been so heavily covered by the media everybody in America, it seemed, knew
about how the government was protecting them by screening for terrorists on the
nation’s major roads. Still, this was their first time on an interstate since
the bombings and since the checkpoints were put into place. Both were nervous.
Wally had owned a gun, which was once registered, but he turned it in after the
McAlister Act went into effect making the ownership of guns a felony in
America. Cindy had asked Wally if his prior gun ownership would cause them any
problems traveling on I-70 to Pennsylvania where Cindy would visit her ailing
aunt. Wally assured Cindy that it wouldn’t be any problem. Internally, though,
Wally wasn’t so sure. He took along with him the receipt for his gun given to
him when he turned it in to comply with the new anti-hate weapon law.

        
Just outside of Columbus, after they passed I-270 which
circled the city, Wally and Cindy came to the first two mile warning sign by
the TSA Anti-Terrorism Division. Cindy spotted the sign first, “Look, Wally,
its coming up, in two miles.”

        
“Un huh. I see it. It’s a hoot that TSA put the checkpoint
here. That town right over there is Independence Village. How about that for
irony? Get out the car registration certificate, the insurance papers and, of
course, your driver’s license. I just read that TSA is going to require that
all drivers have a federal ID. You know, the one that Congress has been
debating, if you can call unanimity of opinion debating.

        
“Now, Wally, don’t go getting your blood pressure all hyped
up. Not right before our first federal checkpoint experience. It’s not worth
getting yourself all sick. Everything will be alright. You’ll see.”

        
“I’m fine, dear….but I can’t say I like any of this….even if
it’s for catching those bombers…..the rightwing religious wing-nuts….that’s
what our pastor called them Sunday.”

        
As soon as Wally and Cindy passed the second sign traffic
came to a crawling stop. The line ahead of them was about a mile long. Wally
was grousing, “See, I knew they couldn’t check everybody’s ID and expect
traffic to move very fast. What are they
thinking
?”
Cindy gave Wally her ‘zip it Wally’ look. He zipped it.

        
After twenty minutes, Wally pulled up to the glass enclosed
traffic control booth and handed over his documents to the TSA blue-shirted
employee who had his hand out. The agent looked them over and then typed
something into the portable device in his hand. After waiting a few seconds,
the TSA agent said, “Sir, you’re going to have to pull out of line. Just put
your vehicle in the lot there next to the access control booth. Now, sir.”

        
“Is there….is there some….sort of….
problem
, officer?”

        
“There
will be
, if
you
don’t
comply with my order. Move
your vehicle.
Now
.” Wally moved his
vehicle, as instructed.

        
No one said anything to Wally or Cindy, for what seemed to
them like the longest time. They could see that the agent who had ordered them
to move was inside the booth, leaning over what looked like a computer monitor.
Finally, the agent came back to their car, handed Wally his documents and said,
“Sir. You are on a no travel list.”

        
“
Huh
? A
what
list?”

        
“A no travel list….you know….like a no fly list at the
airport. You are not authorized to travel on the nation’s interstate highway
system. Please reverse into this area and return west along I-70, but no
further than the next checkpoint which is west of I-270 on I-70.”

        
“But….
how
could
that be? I’ve never even had a speeding ticket. A few parking tickets….all of
which I paid. I don’t see how….”

        
“Look, you seem like nice folks, so off the record, strictly
not
for quotation, you got flagged
because you owned a lethal firearm.”

        
“But, I turned my only gun in. I complied with the anti-gun
law. I’m no terrorist. See, here’s my receipt….I hate what those religious
radical folks did….I….
I don’t even
go to church
….not usually, that is. I’m
no threat to….”
 

        
“Sir, once you are on the no travel list that’s it. I can’t
do a thing about it. I’d be in trouble….
big
trouble
….if I let you pass. The fact that you tried to travel on I-70
today, with your gun background, is now part of the computerized permanent
record. You’ll have to take the back roads if you want to travel, but I hear
internally in the TSA that there’s going to be
a big
hiring effort in the next fiscal year to staff up checkpoints
on state and local highways. The times, sir, they are
a changin’
. Now, I’ve said more than I should have. Please get back
on I-70 and proceed west.
Have a nice day
.”

        
Tears filled Wally’s eyes as he tried to comfort his sobbing
wife on the long drive home.

UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Nebraska
Avenue Complex, Washington DC

               
“Carl,
your memo was a big hit in the Oval Office. Vivian tells me that The Man got a
good laugh at the name.”

        
“Oh,
The Adam and Steve Project
? Catchy,
huh?”

        
“It ridicules the haters, so yeah, I liked it. I’ve got a
tentative go-ahead from Vivian, but before DHS implements it I want to go over
the final details. Spell it out, but I don’t have all day, OK?”

        
“Sure. It’s in three parts – detect, deter and destroy.
First, detect. The traditional LGBT supporters have contacted us and confirmed
that they have enough manpower to approach every evangelical church in America
and ask to be married, in the church.”

        
“So, two men, or two women, will walk into each church and
ask to be married, right?

        
“Yeah. They’ll videotape each denial. We’ve already got the
database set up, with church names, addresses, pastor data and estimated
attendance for each Bible thumping church. As we get the details of the denials
of marriage rights, we’ll enter the data and be ready for phase two, deter.”

        
The Secretary, as was her custom, was multi-tasking -
typing, listening to a cable show in the background and giving Carl some auditory
but no visual attention. She finally replied, “
Deter?
So we’ll give them a chance once they deny marriage rights
before
we close them?”

        
“Correct. DOJ thinks we should, just in case the religious
nuts find a judge somewhere willing to step out of the mainstream and help
them. So in the ‘deter stage’ we serve each denying church with a formal notice
from the IRS. The formal notice will give the church fifteen days to change its
position and agree to marry same sex couples. If the church fails within that
time to sign an attached consent agreement agreeing to legal marriages, then
the church and all of its members will lose their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.
We’ve paid for a study that estimates that without the ability to tax deduct
contributions to churches that giving will fall by well over half.”

        
“That much?”

        
“Well, it varies. Most evangelical church members, the ‘true
believers’, will apparently continue to give at a higher percentage. But
mainline church members won’t likely want to be out of step with the
administration and may be scared that opposition to the President might get
them an IRS audit. The more liberal churches will still have their tax
deductions, so they may attract some folks who identify with what we’re doing
in DC. For all those mega-churches with expensive coffee bars, gymnasiums,
swimming pools, you know what I mean, they may not be able to make their
monthly mortgage payments, if they lose their donor base scared off by the
denial of tax exempt status. So, they’ll fall in line, most likely.”

        
“So, Carl, in the ‘deter stage’ you take away the churches’
tax bennies and hope to flip the church into marrying same sex couples for
financial reasons?”

        
“That’s pretty much it. Again, the study shows that about
half of the churches will be deterred.”

        
“That brings us to the third stage? Destroy
?
For the haters who won’t perform
marriages for loving same sexers?”

        
“Correct. We’ll then have a hard list of churches which
refuse to abide by the law. We’ll use the same judge in Philly….he’s one of
us….to issue a blanket order shutting the doors on any church that refuses.”

        
The DHS Secretary finally looked up at her employee and
said, “OK, Carl, but based on what you’ve told me….we could be looking
at….thousands….
tens
of thousands of
churches that have to be closed. Are we staffed up for that? Do we have enough
Conservators? I don’t want this to take months or even many weeks.”

        
“We’re fine. We calculate that we can install bars and locks
on several hundred buildings per day. It can be done pretty quickly. No
problem.”

        
“Alright. I have a change and a suggestion for the
President. You want the IRS to give them fifteen days to recant. That’s too
long. They only need one Sunday to ask the flock to agree to marry same sex couples.
Ten days is plenty. Then….if they fail to recant….
shut ‘em down
. I’ll call Vivian and suggest that when the church
closings start that the President give a speech at his old church back home. He
should emphasize that
all
Americans
will continue to have free opportunity for religious participation, but
only
if they follow the law as
interpreted by the administration, of course.”

        
“Got it, Madam Secretary,
consider it done
.”

Port
Everglades Cruise Terminal

Fort
Lauderdale, Florida

        
With the economy as bad as it had become John Madison was
confident that he would be able to purchase last minute passage on the
Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship to Mexico and Belize. He waited to purchase
tickets online until mid-day on Friday before the ship’s scheduled departure on
Saturday. Because John and Debbie Madison had been rejected from leaving the
U.S. when they attempted to fly from Atlanta to Ecuador, John knew that the
only way out of the country would be by boat. His research indicated that the
DHS ‘no fly list’ had yet to be applied to cruise travel, but he also
recognized that could have changed as the administration increasingly was
clamping down on Americans leaving the country. Thus, John knew that until they
were on the cruise ship and out of the jurisdiction of the United States, they
were subject to being detained.

        
John briefly considered jumping the border with Canada, but
rejected the idea as too risky. He knew if they were caught they would be
criminally charged, likely with long prison terms to follow. John Madison’s
experience in federal prison was not something he wanted to repeat.

     
The Madisons took a taxi from their hotel to
the cruise terminal. As they approached the terminal they could see and smell
clouds of acrid smoke drifting north from Miami. Television coverage that
morning showed the extensive riots by tens of thousands protesting the possible
impeachment of the President. The reporter referred to similar riots in several
other large cities in what appeared to be an orchestrated effort to influence
the upcoming vote in the US Senate on the House-passed Articles of Impeachment.

        
John and Debbie were ‘prayed up’ as they walked up the
cruise terminal ramp to check in, less than two hours before departure. They
were uptight. They were both worried that they would again be restrained from
leaving their country. John had frequently asked what kind of country keeps its
own citizens from leaving. Having heard her husband’s question several times
Debbie decided to research it. She quickly learned that Hitler issued an edict
in October, 1941 to prohibit Jewish residents of Germany from emigrating across
its borders. Prior to the ban, between 1933 and 1939, half of Germany’s Jewish
residents departed the country. Those who remained were said to have been
convinced that Nazism was a passing phase which they would survive. Most didn’t
survive it. Debbie also found that the Soviets blocked emigration from its
Soviet bloc nations from 1950 until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. When she
discussed her research with her husband she told John that she felt like she
was being held captive behind an American Berlin Wall.

        
John and Debbie said one more prayer under their breath,
then they walked up to the smiling agents at the Norwegian Cruise Lines check in
counter. The NCL agent said, “Good afternoon. Please don’t worry about being
late….the ship won’t be leaving for another two hours. We ask for people to be
here by three PM, but we don’t disembark until five.”

        
John had purposely delayed their arrival at the terminal to
the latest possible time for passengers to check in, hoping there might be a
rush of travelers, with agents being less likely to check their names against a
possible maritime version of a ‘no fly list’. As it turned out the ship’s passengers
must have been anxious to board as John and Debbie were two of only six
passengers waiting in line to check in.

        
“May I have your passports and sailing documents, please?”

        
John handed over the requested documents anxious as to what
would happen next. He looked at Debbie noticing the worry lines at the corners
of her eyes. His worst fears were realized as the agent looked at the
documents, entered their names in her computer and looked up sharply at the
Madisons, saying, “Oh,
I’m sorry
Mister Madison….Do you mind just waiting her one moment. Just
one moment
, sir…I apologize.”

        
John and Debbie exchanged looks. Later they would recall
that they both had the same thought, ‘here we go again’.

        
After what seemed like ten minutes, but was actually under
two, the agent returned. She had her supervisor in tow. He was holding the
Madisons’ passports and travel documents. The supervisor looked down at the
pictures in the passports in his hands, examined the Madisons’ faces and then
asked, “You
are
John and Debbie Madison?”
The Madisons didn’t seem to be able to form words, so each just nodded
affirmatively. “Well, I have some
good
news
for you. You reserved a lower deck interior room, but we’ve just
received a last minute cancellation of an outside
suite
on a higher deck.
Are
you interested
?”

        
John smiled with relief realizing that the NCL supervisor
was merely trying to extract more money. He replied, “No, we’ll be happy with
what we’ve reserved. Those suites can be costly, I know.”

        
“Mister Madison, you don’t
understand
. There’s
no
extra charge. Our records show you’ve traveled with us before. We’re just using
the best rooms first for our
valued
customers.”

        
As the cruise ship departed from Port Everglades John and
Debbie Madison stood on the balcony of their suite. They were still in shock
from the turn of events. John suggested that they pray. “Oh, Father….
We of little faith
. Forgive us when we
doubt you. Forgive us when we lack faith.
Thank
you
for blessing us with passage out of the U.S. We pray that you’ll open
the ministries that you have in mind for us in your chosen destination.
Finally, we pray for Jack and Allie and the kids….that you will keep your
protective hands around them….and get them out of the country
as soon as possible
. We pray that Jack
will be
exonerated
in his trial next
month. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

        
An hour later Jack gave Debbie a huge hug to celebrate their
passing the international jurisdiction line. They were now officially out of
the Daughter of Babylon.