BW

It was late in the afternoon by the time Tim and Alex returned. To every ones' surprise, they brought company with them. Fearing that there might be trouble, Bob approached the S.U.V. carefully, with his pistol loose in the holster. It was when Alex stepped out of it, with a smile on his face that Bob started to relax.

"Hey Dad. Look what I found."

Bob stepped closer, and looked at the man and woman getting out of the back seat.

"JIM!" He shouted. "What in the world are you doing here? I thought you were married to the 'Molly B'."

"Hi Bob. I had to dump her." He grinned back at Bob as they shook hands. "Good thing too, my wife was getting suspicious. Bob, this is Sally."

"Pleasure to meet you Ma'am."

"The pleasure is mine."

"Really, what are you doing way out here?"

"Oh that is a story. Got some place to sit while we talk?"

Bob showed Jim and Sally to the refreshment bar in the store, where they sat and had something to eat, and a soda.

"So what's been happening?" Bob asked.

"Shortly after you guys made the crossing, the Mexicans and Cubans made it up to where we were. We were getting ready to leave ourselves, when Michael showed up and said we were to stay put for awhile. To make a long story short, you folks were the first in a long line of midnight crossings. The 'Molly' made so many trips, she got the reputation of being Clarie's personal midnight express."

"I hope that didn't cause problems."

"No, not at all. Matter of fact, it helped us. You remember the patrol boat that wanted us to stop? Well, it got to the point that they would just wave as we went on by. Anyway this went on for awhile, but things did change. After the enemy forces got there, the river traffic all became either war supplies, or slaves."

"Slaves! Are you kidding?"

"I wish I were, Alex. I managed to avoid that traffic, but ended up transporting munitions mostly. Now Michael had told us before that when the time came, we had to be ready to move, as in right now! One evening he showed up again, and said it was time to go. We loaded our car onto the 'Molly' and made our crossing. Once on the other side, Sally took the car ashore, and I took the 'Molly' back to about mid channel. I sent a distress call, and warned I was carrying munitions. Then I put a couple of flares into the hold and left in the lifeboat. Once I was back to shore, I turned the lifeboat around, and headed it back towards 'Molly'. She was already burning pretty good by then. I knew nobody was going to rush out to save anyone from a burning bomb. So nobody went looking for us when 'Molly' blew to bits."

Jim shook his head at the memory, then continued. "So we drove straight west. Until two days ago. That's when the car broke down. So we packed up what we could carry and kept moving. Last night Michael came back, and told us to get on a certain road, and no matter what, stay on that road. So we did. A little after noon, I heard a car coming, turned around, and there was this familiar looking 4X4 coming down the road, with a familiar face behind the wheel. Alex pulled over to pick us up, and here we are."

"Well we're certainly glad to have you. So what are you going to do now? The only river near here you can cross with a row boat."

"I was thinking about that. What do you folks do about worship services around here?"

"Mostly it's Bible study and prayer."

"Did I ever mention I'm an ordained minister?"

"No."

"We used to have revival meetings up and down the river in the spring and summer. Think there might be a place for us here?"

"I'm certain of it. In fact I was certain of it before you asked. Well, if you don't mind, Alex what happened with you and Tim?"

"Dad, you were right on. We found their car about three quarters of a mile down the road, in a gully. You wouldn't believe the things they had in there."

"Oh I think I can guess. Food, water, or something else to drink, maybe some maps, and loot from every place they had raided. Am I right?"

Alex looked disgusted as he said, "You missed just one thing. Dad they had pictures of what they did to Barbara. I've never been so sick to my stomach in my life. It's no wonder she didn't want to talk. Don't worry, I left them in the car, but I sure wanted to burn the car and everything. I still feel dirty."

"Is there something I haven't been told here?" Jim questioned them. Together Bob, and Alex explained about the three men, and Barbara.

"That explains a lot. Bob there are some other things you need to know. Michael said that there are more people coming here. But we should be wary. Not all of them are going to be what they claim to be. Also we need to be even more careful about that, since the 'space brothers' have made contact, and Christianity has been outlawed."

"Say what? Being a Christian is illegal? And what was that about the 'space brothers'?"

"It's a little complicated, so bare with me. After they stopped dropping nuclear bombs, and the New Madrid quake caused the Great Lakes to wipe out most of the invading forces, these, well most people believe, aliens showed up. They claimed to have come to bring peace to the Earth. You see, they claim to have created us. Then after that, they had to leave for awhile. They haven't gotten around to explaining why they left yet. Anyway, they said that the reason for so much trouble on the Earth is the Christian belief in the end times. So the only answer is, of course, to get rid of the Christians."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight. Christians are at fault for believing the Word of God, which told us about what is happening now, and told us two thousand years ago. So because we believe what God has said, long before our grandparents were born, the events happening now are our fault? What kind of circular logic is that? Is anybody buying this load of bull?"

"I'm sorry to say, most people are buying it. Either that, or they are so sick and tired of fighting they are willing to blame anyone for it all, just so long as it brings a stop to it. Right now there are three kinds of Christians out there. The ones that are to scared to do or said anything, the ones that are either running or hiding, or the ones that are dead. If someone either captures or kills a Christian, they get to keep any possessions that the Christians might of had. And the fact these aliens are the ones saying it lends some authority to it in the minds of any who don't really believe."

"So what do you believe?"

"I believe that all Satan has to do to keep us from going to Heaven is to get us to stop believing in Jesus Christ. To that end, he will use any deception he can. I think these 'brothers' are really fallen angels sent to deceive us. What do you believe?"

"I believe you are exactly right. I also believe we need to work on security."

"I thought you said we can't defend this place, Dad."

"I did, but that isn't the same thing as security. You see all security measures boil down to two types. The physical, and the psychological. The physical is locks, bolts, and things that physically stop you from getting into something. The psychological stops you by making you think it is a bad idea. Say you have a field you want people to stay out of. You could try putting up 'no trespassing' signs, but that will only stop honest people. So you put up a sign warning of mines, and nobody in their right mind is going to wander out into that field to find out if the sign is telling the truth."

"So what are you thinking about doing?"

"A combination of the two. Who is the best artist we have around here, anybody know?"

"To tell the truth, I used to do a little graphic art work on the side when Jim was slow, or away on the camp meetings." Sally said. "What do you need?"

"I need to get you and Kathy together. We need some large signs showing that biological hazard symbol they use in the medical field. And we need some simple quarantine signs as well. Then we put them about a mile or so outside of town, and get some of us in fake uniforms to make it look real. Anyone comes along, we warn them of some terrible disease, and they leave, I hope."

"What about Christians that make it out this far? Won't we be scaring them off as well?" Sally wanted to know.

"I figure that any real Christians that come this far, are going to be lead here. They won't stop at a sign."

"And what about others?"

"Those are the ones we've been warned to watch out for."


BW, Vietnam Vet