Chapter Thirteen
1
Pastor Rodgers stood in front of his congregation. His entire congregation had not been marked. They sat closer together than they had ever had in his many years at the church. He didn’t stand at his pulpit anymore. He stood with his congregation and walked among them.
“Judgment has been passed, my brothers and sisters,” Pastor Rodgers started. He held his Bible up in the air. “He has marked and shown us the evil ones, but we are not my brothers and sisters. We kept to the path of righteousness. Our reward will be everlasting life in the kingdom of God.”
The small congregation all stood up and put their hands up to the heavens. Some were crying and the others kept saying amen. Pastor Rodgers walked up to the crying Patricia Bower for the drug store and put his hands on her face.
“We will stand by God together, my sister.” Pastor Rodgers kissed Patricia’s head and she just about fainted. He walked up to the man standing beside Patricia and grabbed his face. “We will stand by God together, my brother.”
Patricia was worried about her granddaughter. Something didn’t seem right about her this morning.
Pastor Rodgers went and stood in front of the whole congregation. “But we must remember one thing. We must remember that our time here on earth still continues. The time of revelation is upon us and now our faith will truly be tested.”
Pastor Rodgers paused to catch his breath. He hadn’t told anyone that he was having heart problems. He felt his blood pressure go through the roof.
“We will all be tempted to go to the side of the Devil.” The pastor wanted the holy soldiers ready. “We will be a part of this holy war. Even though we are not standing on the holy land, we will stand for the right of man and for God.”
“Amen.” They all said.
2
Deacon Sanders had taken over the masses for the Anderson Catholic Church. He looked out over the people that were sitting quietly and crying. Sanders didn’t know what to say to everyone.
They knew that some people had been marked. Some had seen their neighbors and friends. All religions were connecting it to the end of the world. The angels had marked the ones who would be saved.
“Fear not,” Sanders started. “There is still time. There is still time for a change and time enough for all this to possibly end.”
Some of the people had stopped and listened. The others still talked amongst themselves and cried.
“If all of this is a sign,” Father Sanders said. “Then it is our sign. It is our sign to look at ourselves and make changes where necessary.”
The church sat quietly as Sanders went into the routine of the daily mass. He felt sad as he looked out amongst the people. They looked as though they had lost their faith.
3
The earthquake had knocked out the remaining power out at the Anderson County Jail. Jack Duggan was still locked down in his isolation cell.
The door wouldn’t open without a key or a push of a button. There were some prisoners who got lucky to be out and didn’t get locked down. They had killed several guards and took others as hostages.
The prisoners and most of the guards were marked. Jack had the same mark. He stood looking at his head in the mirror.
He had been staying calm. He believed what the black robed man had said for some reason. He believed that he would be set free when the time came.
The things that were going on around him didn’t bother him. He had remained laying in his bed when the earthquake shook the world.
He kept staring in the mirror. He was admiring the mark on his forehead. He had been marked for a reason. They all had been marked for a reason.
The cell door lock clicked even though there was no power. He didn’t do the required drill when the cell door opened.
He faced the door instead of the wall. His right hand held tight to the shank he had made from a toothbrush.
The door opened and at first no one was there. Then the black robed man appeared and he seemed to laugh at Jack.
“Drop the dirty toothbrush,” the man said.
Jack’s hand immediately dropped the homemade shank. This time the man caused fear to be in Jack.
“It’s time to go,” the man said.
“How…?” Jack started.
“Just follow,” the man said.
The man turned and started walking. Jack followed like he had been told to do. He had never listened to anyone in his life like he was listening to the man.
They walked through the jail and no one seemed to notice them as they passed. The doors all clicked open for them and then shut on their own.
There was something special going on. Jack knew that it was no normal man that he was following. Jack finally felt like he was somebody.
The man stopped before they stepped out of the jail. He turned and faced Jack. His eyes had a light red glow to them.
“You must go on your own now.” He pointed out to the street. “Stay out of sight and find no trouble. You must go and find Robert. He’ll lead the way for you.”
“How will I find him?” Jack was confused.
“You’ll find the way,” the man said.
Jake nodded and then stepped out into the free world. His free started kicking back in. How could he not decide to go his own way?
Jack didn’t realize that the man would always be watching him. The man had already gotten into his mind and soul.
4
Terry had spent most of the morning in bed. She had only gotten up once. She had gone to the bathroom and then back to bed.
She had finally decided to get up. The day couldn’t be a total waste. She had to go to the bathroom again, anyways. Her bladder was active again.
Her white night gown fell around her ankles as her feet touched the floor. Her body didn’t feel the same anymore. After Robert had raped her, she felt broken.
There was a slight chill in the air. Goose bumps ran up her leg. She regretted not putting on socks.
The bathroom light still wasn’t working. She figured that the earthquake had caused the power to go out. She had lit a candle and had left the door open when she was in there earlier. She would do the same this time.
She was thankful for the sunlight that was coming in all the windows. It wasn’t as dark as before.
She washed her hands after she was done. At least they still had water. She had gone ahead and brushed her teeth while she was in there.
Her appearance in the mirror was awful. Her hair was going in all directions. Dark rings were forming underneath her eyes. She decided to take a shower after getting something to eat.
She left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. The house had been quiet all morning. She could tell that her grandma wasn’t home.
She had no idea what had happened to many people around the world. She had been left unmarked.
5
Robert didn’t know how he was keeping his eyes open. He had slept very little for days. He wasn’t able to lie still long enough to get close to falling asleep.
He wasn’t afraid of the cops coming and looking for him. The dark robed man’s voice in his head told him not to worry. Terry would be too ashamed to tell anyone.
He was a little surprised that he didn’t feel sorry for what he had done. There was a piece of him that had enjoyed it. It was something that he could see himself doing again.
The fact that there was no mark on his forehead didn’t surprise him, either. The dark robed man had told him about God’s people being marked. The marked ones would be his new enemies. A lot of unmarked people would soon come to Anderson.
The earthquake had shaken the world. It also signified that the sides had been chosen. Sides had been chosen all over the world.
It was time for Robert to gather up his things. He needed to move on. It was the only way for things to really begin.
6
It wasn’t long bef
ore Private Johnson knew that something was terribly wrong. Some of the soldiers had marks on their heads and other didn’t. His friend Red Mathews had been marked.
A few hours after the earthquake, they all had been given orders. They were all going back to the states. They were going to be stationed at an air force base in Ohio. Any soldier who is not marked and disobeys orders will be shot on the spot.
The every soldier was shocked by these orders. The marked soldiers didn’t know what think, because they were still just following orders. There were marked ones in charge.
Private Johnson had witness five marked sergeants be lined up and shot. He knew he had to find a way home. The unmarked soldiers were talking about some town called Anderson.
There was also an order that no leave would be given till the war was over. No one knew that it wouldn’t be over till the world finally came to an end. Private Johnson didn’t want to be a part of this war.