Chapter 1 - The Clock Ticks, The Day Changes And Life Will Never Be The Same

The wind blew a few scattered snowflakes through the air as Nicole hurried toward the barns.  She wanted to finish the chores and get back to the house to start dinner.  Her thoughts were as cold and dark as the November evening. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving and she anticipated it would be the last holiday she would ever spend with her extended family.  The world was changing rapidly, at least the world as she knew it, and she would soon be stepping over the line and committing herself into a new future.  That is, if she and John had interpreted the Bible correctly and the tribulation was moving into a deeper phase.

 

Few believers seemed to agree with them on their interpretation.  The North American evangelical church, for the most part, did not feel that Christians would go through the tribulation.  The rapture would take place, the Christians would disappear, the Anti-Christ would reign for a time, and God would deliver His judgments on those who were left behind.

 

Nicole couldn’t remember when she and John had begun to question this accepted theory.  It had been a gradual process as they read their Bibles and examined the news.  They watched as society seemed to fall further and further away from Truth and tolerance became the norm, which seemed to have been followed by society applauding, or at least accepting, more and more decadent behavior.  Had it been 2009 or 2010 when ministers were threatened with charges of “hate crimes” for preaching certain Biblical truths from the pulpit?

 

They had become more isolated in the last few years, seldom watching TV, traveling only to visit family, always working, preparing for what they felt was soon to start. Some would say they were doomsday preppers, maybe that was correct.  She thought they were preparing to continue to serve God. She thought about what John had said long ago about TV, cell phones and e-mail… ‘those devices confuse people into thinking the urgent should supersede the important.’  To them, important meant God, family and friends.  Even during their working careers they had made it clear to their employers that they would work hard, but work would never be their first priority.

 

Now, in their quiet evenings, they would listen to Christian radio stations, read books and devotions, and gather information on how to do various tasks from the Internet.  On Sunday, they would go to church, and through everything, they would talk.  How she and John would talk.  They had become best friends within a few months of meeting each other.  Marrying each other had been the most natural thing in the world.  The years had come and gone and they had continued to fall more in love with one another.  If God was going to put them through the tribulation, then Nicole felt blessed that John would be by her side.

 

Nicole fed and watered the sheep, locking them in the barn for the night.  She put the first of the dairy goats onto the milking stanchion and proceeded to milk her as quickly as possible.  What was taking John so long?  He had gone to town to fill up the truck’s gas tank and the cans they used for the mower. There would be no more mowing this year, but they had agreed they needed to keep as much gasoline on hand as they could store. She had expected him to be back in 20 minutes.  He had been gone almost an hour.  Nicole would have preferred to start the chores earlier, but they had decided to gather the last of the fall cabbages and broccoli, and to cover the strawberries with straw for the winter. Then there had been the pies to make for Thanksgiving (she was always asked to make the pies).  She would do the crusts and John would make the fillings: pumpkin, sugar cream, and raspberry.  The house had smelled wonderful with the aroma of them baking. She finished milking, fed the ten goats and closed them in.  Finally, she grained the chickens, gathered a handful of eggs and locked the last barn door.  Headlights were coming up the long drive and she waited by the barn until John stopped the truck.  She slid into the passenger seat and glanced at John’s face illuminated by the dashboard lights and knew he wasn’t ready for questions.  They rode the last eighth of a mile to the house in silence.

 

Nicole was glad to be inside and surrounded by light and warmth.  She put water on to boil, cleaned some of the broccoli from the afternoon picking, threw them into the water with a few carrots and let it begin to cook.  She got crackers out of the cabinet and sliced an apple and a pear to go with their dinner.  She took another pan and prepared a cheese sauce with some of the goat milk.  When the broccoli and carrots had cooked, she ran the mixture through the food processor, combined it with the cheese sauce and let it reheat.  Soon, she and John were sitting down to their evening meal.  Taking her hand, and bowing his head, John spoke, “Our Heavenly Father for the bounty we receive from Your hand we are grateful. Guide us this day and all the days ahead as we strive to find, to understand, and to do Your will. Amen.”

 

Nicole loved the simple, honest way that John talked with God.  For the first time in hours, she let herself relax.  They ate in silence for a few minutes, savoring their soup before Nicole remembered her concern about the length of time that John had been gone.  “What took so long at the gas station? Was everyone filling up their tanks for holiday travel tomorrow?”

 

“I want to tell you that was all it was, but there is far more to the story, and I might as well explain it to you now because you’ll see it on the Internet if you check it before bed.  There were long lines at the pumps.  It reminded me of the lines on 9/11 after the planes crashed into the Twin Towers and no one knew what was coming next.  Do you remember?” Nicole nodded, her eyes filling with concern. John continued, “I had planned to pay with cash, but before I got to the pump, the word came back through the line that only debit cards could be used.  No cash, no credit cards.  Someone said the news had announced that people are going to have to turn their cash into the banks to be credited to their accounts.  Credit cards are to be paid off by electronic transfer from bank accounts within the next six months and then will no longer be allowed.  Debit cards will make all purchases.  All salaries, bill paying, whatever, will be by electronic transfers.  Cash money is effectively obsolete.  Nicole, we need to accept that the forces of darkness are starting to carry out their plans.  I think that within the next six months to a year we will see the government taking control of the banks and centralizing all transactions so that they can monitor individuals more closely. Our immediate action should be to enjoy our families tomorrow. On Friday, we are going to take stock and plan the next few months.  Tomorrow everyone will be talking about this at Thanksgiving, I know you can become very impassioned, but I need you to just listen and absorb the conversations around you without making very many comments of your own.  We’re going to be with your family and then mine, but we don’t know where some people are standing on this government and we need to be very low-key.  The Bible says ‘a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.’  People are going to be vocal in the next few days and I think we are going to see scattered areas of panic.  Calm observation is going to serve us well.  My intentions are to finish this bowl of soup and turn on the TV, for a change, to see what the country’s initial reaction is.”  Nicole reflected on what John had just said as a silent tear slid down her cheek.

 

The stories on the news seemed to convey a different feeling than John had experienced at the service station.  People were being interviewed and expressing their delight at how much simpler their lives would be without the nuisance of carrying cash or the urge to overspend with credit cards.  One woman stated she wished this had gone into effect three months earlier so that she wouldn’t have run up charges on her credit cards with early Christmas shopping.  Debit cards would make life so much easier, one source of paying bills, one statement to check at the end of the month, if your account balance was too low you were prevented from purchasing anything until the next pay was deposited.  Debt in the United States would be eliminated in just a short time and everyone would be happier for it.  A man expressed hope that the whole world would quickly follow suit. All the major news stations were airing the same stories, often with interviews of the same people.

 

“Well, obviously our little corner of rural America is the only place in the country with a run on the gas station or the grocery store or the bank.” John sarcastically quipped, “I was quite concerned that the country was going to be in an uproar, but I feel much better now that the news media has reassured me.”

 

Nicole picked up the pillow beside her and playfully swatted at John.  “Wouldn’t I love to know when those interviews were taped?  Do you think we can find anything less biased on the Internet?”

 

“Let’s e-mail your cousins in New Jersey, and your brother in Florida and then let’s give Jacob a call in Atlanta,” replied John.

 

“Excellent!” Nicole responded as she headed to the computer.  Her progress was halted by the ringing of the cell phone she had laid on the counter when she had returned from the barn; she slid the phone to the on position, “Hello.”

 

“Mom, it’s me, Jacob.  How are you guys?  Ready for turkey day?”

 

“Jacob, we were going to call you in a few minutes.  We were watching the news and wondered what the reaction has been in Atlanta.  Dad went to the service station earlier and cars were lined up.  He said the market was doing a brisk business also, and he didn’t think it was just last minute Cool Whip runs.”

 

“Mom, it is mayhem here. I was hoping you were going to tell me people there were calm.  I got off work at 2 PM and it took me almost two hours to get home.  I knew traffic would be heavy with the holiday but this is unbelievable.  Every bank I went by had lines out to the street.  Monica said people came and picked up kids during the day from the school.  She only had seven students in her class when the day was done.  I’ve been notified to report to work at 7:30 in the morning for possible riot control.  When I called Laine on her dinner hour she said the pharmacy was a zoo with people calling and coming in trying to get their prescriptions filled early, and becoming very disgruntled when she told them that wasn’t possible.”

 

“What time was Laine scheduled to get off work tonight?  She had told me she worked 8 AM to 2 PM tomorrow for the holiday,” Nicole asked.

 

“She is supposed to be off at 10 tonight, but said she’d be lucky to be out by midnight.  Management was considering leaving the pharmacy closed tomorrow to let people calm down.  What did you and Dad think of the news?  I know how strongly you feel about government controls.”

 

“Dad and I thought that they had the interviews staged and scripted.  From what you’ve said about Atlanta and what Laine is experiencing in Springfield, then I would speculate the whole country is pretty tense.  I think the hope is that if they run these news reports all evening people will assume that just their little corner of the country was over-reacting.  Too bad they forgot about e-mail and telephones.  So Mr. FBI, what are your thoughts?”

 

“Hey Nicole, the e-mail won’t be a problem.  The Internet just went down,” John called from where he was sitting by the computer.

 

“Jacob, Dad said the Internet isn’t functioning.  If we lose our connection, we’ll talk to you as soon as possible.  I love you…” Nicole realized the phone line was silent.  “Great, just great, what do you want to bet that the TV is still broadcasting with no interruption, John?”

 

“Why would I bet you anything when I know you’re going to win?  Let’s go see what explanation is being offered for the lack of Internet and phone service.” John settled into the couch and patted the seat beside him as Nicole wearily settled in for an evening of propaganda.

 

“Widespread reports are reaching us of interruptions of Internet and cell phone service as people prepare for the holiday weekend.  Service providers report higher call volume than on Mother’s Day.  People are urged to relax and enjoy a quiet evening at home as they prepare for Thanksgiving and gear up for the Black Friday holiday sales.  Now for a look at the public reaction to the new no cash, no credit policies, here is our correspondent in New York,” said the news anchor as video played of the man who hoped the world would soon adopt these financial measures.