December 28, 2007
GW

Reports were coming into the Presidents' office, from the Regional Directors. Things were going well. All major cities and towns were, if not pacified, at least under siege. Confusion in those places was the order of the day. That was good. Food shortages were bound to be next. The more the population was confused, the weaker they were, the less the chance for any kind of organized resistance. Being encircled, nothing and nobody got in or out. The useless eaters in them were on their own, with no chance for outside help.

Out in the countryside, things weren't going quite so well. In many places there was resistance to the rabble of invading gangs, but that meant when the troops were done doing their job in the cities, there would be fewer to resist them when they moved out into the surrounding hills, valleys, and flat lands. The unknowing cannon fodder that the gangs really were, would have done their job by then. If they actually managed to take over a town or two, that just meant the locals would welcome their deliverers with open arms, just as they had done in the cities. True, there were a few places where things could have gone better, but that was already figured into the plan. After all, you can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs. Besides, no-one cared what happened to these vermin anyway.

Still, he was bothered about how things were turning out in the south eastern region, and in certain western areas. It could be, SHOULD be, going smoother. He picked up the phone. The conversation with the Southern Regional Director was short, sharp, and to the point. Eliminate resistance, or someone who could would be found.

Director Claire put the phone down. His ears ringing with the Presidents' displeasure. Then he picked it up again.

"Find Jose' and get him in here. NOW!" Was shouted into the phone before it was slammed back down.

He sat down to look at the reports again. He hated to admit it, but the President was right. Things should be going much better than this. Here and there, throughout his region the MS-13 members that had been turned loose on the population were taking unacceptable losses. Those stupid red-necks out in the countryside were fighting back. Maybe they weren't organized yet, but they were doing a lot of damage. As he scanned the lists of known resisters' names, he couldn't help but notice that many of them were veterans of military service. Not all, but many of them.

Should these people get together, they already knew how to fight, and they knew how to give, and how to carry out orders. They could train others. They were an unacceptable threat. Then, there were the reports from some places, of people gathering in churches. Most of the time, the gangs waited for the doors to close, then moved in and began the slaughter. But there were a few churches, by the time MS_13 moved in to wipe them out, the entire building was empty. All vehicles from out front had simply vanished. He knew what it meant. They were getting help from 'the other side'. Helpers sent by 'the Nazarene'. The problem was he couldn't prove that.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Director Claire looked up as Jose' entered the room. What a mismatched pair they were. He stood there in his beautiful three piece suit, and Jose' walking in wearing torn jeans, a t-shirt, and a sleeveless jacket with the MS-13 colors and symbols, like the spider-web, sewn all over it. What could be seen of his arms showed tattoos that were much the same. He smelled of marijuana and beer, and walked with a cocky self assurance. Behind him came his number 1 man. Manuel, looked very much like Jose', but each of them knew who was the head man.

"Hey, Director Claire. Hows' it going?"

"You've failed me!" Claire shouted; "You were supposed to have your area under control by now!"

"Hey man, you never told me that these dumb rednecks would shoot back like that. This is your fault, not mine."

Clair quieted and calmed himself.

"This is your country, these are your people, you should have known. You should have known what your enemies could do. You didn't and you've lost too many men, and the job still isn't done. You failed me."

With that, he picked up the pistol on his desk, and shot Jose' twice, in the classic style of an assassin. Once in the chest, once in the head, otherwise known as 'the double tap'.

He turned there weapon on Manuel.

"Looks like you just got promoted. YOU are the head man now. You know what I want. GET IT DONE!!!"

Wisely, Manuel backed out of the room, keeping his eyes glued to the pistol, until he could make a dive for the door, and out of the line of fire.

Claire pushed a button on his desk,

"Get someone in here to clean up this mess."

-------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Bob and Tim had gathered all the weapons, spare ammo, and other things they might need from those who wouldn't be needing them any longer, they returned to the house. Both Tim and Kathy were surprised to hear Bob say;

"Time to pack up, and get out of Dodge."

"Why? We've shown them it's not safe for them to come here, I don't think they'll come back after this. We have BOMBS for goodness sake. They don't what to mess with that."

Bob smiled to himself as he heard Kathy say 'We'. He said nothing, and let it pass. She was thinking of the group, not just her family or herself. It was a good thing.

"Kathy, that is exactly why we have to leave. Now, you've never servred in uniform, so I don't expect you to see things as I do. They may not look like an army, but whoever is directing them knows military tactics. Just like an army in wartime, they move into an area, either pacify it, or burn it to the ground, then the move to the next area. Not always in a straight line, but always where they see the next biggest threat to them.

In a case like this, where they hit a strong point, standard procedure is to back off, and wait for more men to show up. Men with bigger and better weapons. We have to be gone before they get back. And they'll never be weaker, or more disorganized, than now. We MUST go now."

"Bob! If we have to pack up, how do we leave right now?"

"We thank God for His provisioning. TOM, SAM, over here please."

Kathy wondered what he was saying, and was a little irked that Bob was ordering her sons around. But, so far, Bob had done everything he could for them, and had been right about the gangs coming back. She held her piece to see what he would say next.

"Tom, I want you to take the position by the view slits at the front door. Sam you take the slits in the first bed room on the right as you go down the hall. Either of you see anything at all, sing out loud and clear. Understand me? Good. Take your positions."

"Tim, Kathy, follow me please."

Bob turned and went to the door leading to the two car garage.

"'Jesus said, just as in the days of Noah, so shall it be...' Well, I'm not as good of a carpenter, and I don't have time to build an Ark. So we 'man the lifeboats'."

As Bob stepped aside, in the garage Tim and Kathy could see Bobs' old pick up truck, and his late wife's' SUV. Both were packed for traveling, and strangely enough, pointed outwards.

Kathy sat down on the step. "Bob, this is too much. How could you know about all of this? I refuse to take another step, until you answer some questions."

"Kathy, ask your questions, but we are running short on time. I'll answer you, but Tim and I have work to do. Tim, come help me, please. We need to take out some of this canned food, and make a hollow space in the middle, behind the front seat, for the youngest two. You pass out the boxes, and I'll set aside the ones we're going to put back in."

He moved aside as Tim opened the door and got started.

"Kathy, to answer your first question, I have to ask, how did you NOT know?"

"Not know, what do you mean?"

"I know you two are Christians. You even invited me to your church after Nancy...Well, you know."

They knew. Nancy had been a very good neighbor. She even baked cookies for her children once in awhile. Then, one morning while on the treadmill at the gym, her heart just stopped. Nothing could be done to revive her.

"Anyway, do you remember when We first moved in, about ten years ago? I gave you a book, called 'Through the Fire, Without Burning' about Dimitru Duduman. You never read it did you?"

She shook her head.

"Everything that is happening now was prophesied in that book. Not in this much detail, of course, but internal U.S. revolution is in there. The man who gave the prophecies went home in the mid nineties, but not one of his prophecies has failed. If you had read the book I gave you, you would be ready for today."

"That's good, Tim. Now we need to open the hatch and make a little space back there."

"Why?" Tim asked as he moved to do as he had been told.

"Either Tom, or Sam is going to sit back here as a rear guard. You'll have to chose which one."

"But our pastor told us we'd be taken out before anything bad happened. He even had all kinds of books on it, and scriptural verses to back him up as well."

"I'm sure he did. You know, I would be willing to bet he never explained away Matt. 24:29 to 31. In those verses, Jesus Christ, himself says he will return AFTER the tribulation. How long after? Do as Jesus said.

Study Daniel and the other prophets. In the last part of Daniel, he says the anti-Christ will rule for 1260 days. In another place it is 1290 days. Then he says 'Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh unto the one thousand three hundred, five and thirtieth day.' What would make him say something like that?

Go back to Matt. 24. What happens just after the tribulation? 'Then shall appear the sign of the son of man appearing in the east.' Kathy, if you have studied your bible, then you should know all this. As Paul said to Timothy, 'Study, to show thyself approved unto God.'"

"O.K. Tim you grab the duct tape and follow me. Kathy, would you turn on the head lights please?"

The lights came on.

"Alright, This little trick is called 'cats' eyes'. We are going to tape across the headlights, side to side, and up and down until there is only a small slit showing. You won't be able to see much, but neither will they. Just go slow and stay on my rear. Kathy, watch the light from the head lights on the door. Tell me when the shadow blocks out everything above the hood."

Bob pulled out a piece of duct tape and held it in front of the headlight. With Kathy to guide him he soon stuck the tape over the light, blocking out much of it. He then applied more tape to the lower part of the light until there was only a space about a inch high, and three inches long allowing the light out. Passing the tape to Tim, he said;

"Do the same to the other light. Use what you can see shining on the door to be your guide."

"This is going to ruin your paint."

"I think I'll get over it."

GW, Vietnam Vet