Chapter Five
1
U.S. troops had been deployed around the world. All countries had been on alert to the approaching troops. Korea and Russia was ready for a nuclear war.
The U.S. Air Force where waiting for their orders. The aircrafts were loaded and fueled up.
There were protests in the states. People didn’t approve of what the president appeared to be doing. The National Guard was sent to take care of the protestors.
Every news station had a field day. What seemed to be the president’s show of domination, had taken over ever television station.
2.
Bella had made it across the state of Texas. She had never heard of Anderson, Ohio. She didn’t even know how to get there. The only thing that she knew was that her car would only stop for gas.
She knew that there had to be some reason that she kept thinking of the name Robert. She had thought about the name enough to start picturing a face to go with it. There had to be a face to go with it.
Bella had started packing as soon as she woke up. She had woken up Cindy and Lou, her two best girls. She had a feeling that she was going to need some help for whatever reason. She had left Mattie, her most expertise girl, in charge while she was away.
The trip had already been an unusual one. The day before the sky had seemed like it had caught one fire. Cindy had sworn that she had seemed something like looked like a horse flying in the sky.
Bella didn’t care about what was going on outside of the car. She just needed to focus on her driving. She would drive for a few more hours and then let Lou drive. Cindy had seen horses fly in the sky, so Bella figured she could use some more sleep.
“So…” Lou broke the silence. “Why are we going to Ohio?”
Lou was twenty-four and one of the smartest girls. She had come from Oregon just to work for Bella. She had been a runaway prostitute where she had come from. A girl that had worked for Bella had moved up north and they somehow met. She had small B cup boobs and long legs. She hoped one day to be out of the business.
“Well…” Bella started. She knew that she was going to sound crazy. “Well, don’t laugh, but I really don’t know for sure.” She seen Lou’s confused face. “I think I’m supposed to meet a man there.”
“How’s that?” Lou asked.
“You met someone off the internet?” Cindy had to get into the conversation. “I thought you were against meeting people online.”
Cindy is a nineteen-year old redhead. Bella thought that she was more clueless than most blondes. She had grown up around the brothel, her mom had worked there. She knew nothing else.
“I haven’t met anyone online?” Bella chuckled because she figured that the girls would know better. “I just got this weird feeling that there is a reason why we should be in Ohio.”
“Why do you feel this way?” Lou asked. She thought that Bella had been acting funny since the night before. “Is everything alright, Bella?”
Bella didn’t respond right away. She thought about some of the crazy things that she had done before. She had often taken drives without knowing where she was going. She had never gone looking for someone that she didn’t know personally or how to find.
“You, girls,” Bella started. She didn’t want to freak them out. “The two of you are just going to have to trust me on this one.”
“Alright,” both girls said.
The girls looked at each other. They gave each other looks like Bella had lost her mind. It hadn’t gone unnoticed.
The interstate wasn’t as busy as it usually would have been. They were making great time. They would only stop for gas.
If they only understood, hell I don’t even understand. Bella couldn’t help to think. In some funny way, they are a part of this too.
3.
It had taken Josh all night to walk home. The fire had practically burned up his clothes that he had been wearing. He felt naked as he walked down the street. It had surprised him that he hadn’t seen any cops who would have stopped him for the way he was looking.
He had been watching over his shoulder for cops all night. He thought they would have found the burning garage by now. Then somehow connect him to the explosion.
He still felt a little pain, but nothing like he had been or should have been. He should have been dead or in the hospital. He felt sick to his stomach when he thought about his friends.
How did I get so lucky? He kept thinking. Why did Brad and Jeff have to die?
Josh went in the backdoor to try and avoid waking up his grandma and sister. His mom had left them in their grandma’s care when his sister and he were younger. That was not the best thing for them.
Their step-grandpa had molested them both. Josh didn’t cry when that old man died. Things had gotten a little better for them when he did.
He hadn’t been using meth for very long. It had only been a few months. Brad had introduced him to Jeff.
Josh couldn’t believe that Brad and Jeff were both dead. How did he get so lucky? Was this his second chance at life.
He kept thinking. Should I call the cops? He thought he would go to jail if he did. He really didn’t know what to do. He was exhausted and confused.
Looking up at the ceiling a thought occurred to him. There was a little bit of stuff still stashed away. He jumped out of bed like he wasn’t even tired.
He went over to the dresser and opened up the top drawer. It was hidden underneath his underwear. A small baggy with just a little bit of meth in it was just calling out his name. He took the bag and went back and sat down on the bed.
Thoughts of the woman poured through his mind. There was something strange about her. Where had she come from? Where did she go?
Josh took it back to the dresser and put it back where he found it. He needed as much sleep as he could manage to get. If he would hit that, he would be up all day and possibly all night.
He turned off the light and lay down. Could he really quit using drugs? Did he even care enough to want to?
He didn’t want to think anymore about it. He only wanted to sleep. It would all depend on how he felt when he woke up.
It took a little while for him to fall asleep. His mind kept going back and forth from the stash in his dresser and then to the woman. When he fell asleep, dreams of the explosion filled his head.
4.
Terry was sitting at home alone. She was reading the latest romance novel that she had bought. Her grandma didn’t approve of her books, so she only read them when her grandma wasn’t around.
At first she couldn’t get her mind to focus on the book. There were just so many strange things that had been happening. When she finally didn’t get lost in her reading, a knock came at the front door.
When she looked out, she noticed Robert standing on the porch. He looked like had been in a fight. She figured that’s why they hadn’t heard from him.
At first she wondered what he was doing at her house. She felt that it didn’t matter. He was Trevor’s and her friend, so she let him in.
“Hey,” she said. She stepped aside to let him through. “What’s up?”
Her mind couldn’t help but keep wondering what he could possibly want. Robert had never been inside her house before. Why’s he here, now?
“I just needed to get out of the house.” He had only walked a few feet into the living room. “I hadn’t seen much of anyone, so I figured I’d come around and say hey.”
“Well,” Terry was confused. “We have been trying to call you.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I haven’t been feeling the best.”
“Ok,” Terry said. “Well, you can have a seat on the couch if you want.”
Robert did sit down on the couch. He looked awful. Terry thought that he could have been drinking before he got there. He wasn’t acting like his usual self.
Terry sat down on the opposite side of the couch.
She never said down too close to Robert. She knew that he didn’t like her very well.
“What have you been up to?” Robert asked. “You look like you’re doing alright.”
“I would say the same as usual,” Terry said. “But, all the strange stuff that has been happening has caused grandma to be a handful.”
“Has she been going off about all that religious stuff?” Robert had never been known to believe in God. “That can be annoying at times.”
“Well,” Terry started. She did kind of agree with him about it being annoying at times. “You know how my grandma can get.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said. He seemed to be thinking. “You, Trevor, and I should get together sometime. You know, to hangout and talk.”
“Yeah, we all need to,” she said.
There was silence between them. Robert just wasn’t right. Terry kept wondering how he got beat up.
“So, what happened to you?” she asked. “Was it an accident or fight?”
“Why did you put it like that?” He acted like he got offended.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“A fight,” Robert said. Then he lied. “Hopefully, it will be the last one that I will ever see.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “You’ve been in enough of them.”
“That’s for sure,” he said.
He moved over a little on the couch. A few minutes later he scouted closer again. He was sitting closer to her than he had ever done before.
“What do you think of all these strange things that have been happening?” Robert turned and was facing her. “We both know what your grandma and the church people are saying. But, what are your thoughts on everything?”
“I don’t know,” Terry said. “Maybe everyone is right. Maybe it is the end of the world about to happen.”
“What if it is?” he asked.
“Don’t tell me that you believe it?” She said.
“Maybe,” he said. She gave him a look like she didn’t believe him. “Aren’t you the one who is supposed to be the Christian? You’re supposed to believe in the whole revelation thing.”
“What?” Terry was confused.
“What if we’re all a big part of the end of the world?” He was getting into the conversation. “What if the so-called holy land isn’t where it’s all going to go down?”
“Okay,” she said. She wasn’t making sense of how he was acting. “What are you talking about?”
He scooted closer to her. He was sitting right next to her. “The final battle.”
“Final Battle?” Terry just shook her head. She didn’t know what he was talking about or why he was getting so close to her. “You’re acting weird.”
“Whatever,” he said. He placed his hand on her thigh. “You should read Revelations some more.”
Terry went to move his hand off her leg. Then he went to kiss her. She quickly pulled away.
“What are you doing?” She pleaded. She stood up. “Maybe you should leave.”
“Don’t fight the temptation,” he said. He stood up too. They were face to face. “Don’t you want to be touched by a man before the world ends?”
“Well,” Terry started. “The world isn’t coming to an end. If it was and what you said was true, you wouldn’t be the man that would touch me.”
“Oh,” he said. “I forgot. It would be Trevor.” He chuckled. “You know that he doesn’t like you, right? He has told me before that he would never sleep with you.”
She knew that he was just trying to make her feel bad. It still hurt her to hear the words. She wanted to slap him. That’s when he put his arms around her.
“You know you want it,” he said. He had a strange smile on his face. “Don’t fight what you’re feeling.”
She took a step back and stumbled against the coffee table. He was starting to scare her.
“Leave now!” she demanded.
He put his hands up in the air. “Okay.”
He started backing up towards the front door. He still had a smile on his face. It wasn’t the same Robert that she thought she knew.
“You…” he started. He opened up the screen door. “You, have a good day.”
He walked out the door and off the porch. Terry watched him get into his car and drive off. Then she shut and locked the front door.
Her heart was racing from fear. Or, was it something else? Did she really want it? She couldn’t stand the thought of Robert, now.
“I need to talk to Trevor,” she said.
5.
When most Americans should have been getting ready for bed, the Air Force had gotten their orders. They were to start dropping bombs and were not to stop till told otherwise. They were to destroy capitals worldwide.
Korea and Russia tried to join forces. There was widespread death across the world. A nuclear warhead was set off, but had landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Many American soldiers died. The world was stunned on how fast things started and soon ended.
A war that would spread worldwide had begun. The horseman had released his arrow on the world. World domination had begun.
6
The road leading into and out of Anderson had a little traffic on it. The storm was hitting hard and the wind could almost bend the trees. Nobody noticed the man in white walking into town.
Anderson was just one of many stops on his long journey. He needed to find the good that was left in the world. He was to take a census of the good and evil in the world.
The wind and rain didn’t affect him. He didn’t find a good soul that would stop and get him out of the rain. Has the world lost all faith and trust in man?
The son of God knew how much evil he would find in Anderson. There was good that he needed to tend to.