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  "What about empty paint cans? Tip the paint out somewhere if you have to. We need to fill every available container, no matter how dirty it is."

  Raymie went back to work looking for containers and muttering to himself about how no one would ever catch him drinking water from a dirty old paint can. "The paint's probably worse for me than not having any water at all," he said.

  "There're only a couple dozen candles, and two boxes of matches," Chloe said, loudly enough for the others to hear. "We need to ration the candles and the water.

  "What're we gonna eat?" asked Raymie.

  "Nothing… at least not for a while. It's too dangerous to go upstairs. In a few days we may be able to make a quick trip to the fridge and grab something."

  "In a few days?" wailed Raymie, who had tipped nails and screws out of some empty cans and was filling the cans with water.

  "Yes, in a few days. It won't kill us."

  Irene was not listening. She was fervently praying that God would do something to bring meaning to all of this. She prayed that he would protect them, that Rayford would be safe, and that she would be able to contact Pastor Billings. That was when she saw the cell phone.

  Raymie had accidentally grabbed it, thinking it was a hand-held video game. She picked it up and started dialling. She thanked God that they had paid extra for the microwave satellite function. The Billingses had a satellite phone too. Hopefully she would be able to get a call through to them.

  "Pastor Billings! Is that you?," she said when Vernon Billings picked up the receiver on his end of the line. "This is Irene Strait. What's happening? Please tell me!"

  "Trust God, Sister Strait," said the kindly old pastor. "Everything's gonna be all right. He knows what he's doing."

  "But the country… it's being bombed!" said Irene. "This isn't how it was supposed to happen. We were supposed to be raptured. Is this the end of the world or what?"

  "Believe me, Sister. It's all under control", replied Pastor Billings. "I was on the phone to a Christian militia movement in Montana just last night. They said the Lord has actually appeared to them out there. Yes, really! It's not quite how we expected it to happen, but we have to flow with the Spirit, Sister. God is calling his people from all over America to make their way to Montana. I refused to believe it myself; but that was last night. Now I'm thinking differently."

  There was silence on Irene's end of the phone as the pastor paused to let her respond. "Are you with me, Sister Strait?" he asked.

  "Uh, yeah, sure. I'm with you," Irene replied hesitantly.

  Pastor Billings continued. "We may escape this thing yet, Sister. But you'll have to be obedient. Elaine and I are praying about it now, and we want you to do the same. The Lord has spared us for a purpose. He's coming for us, Irene, you can be sure of that. We just had a few of the details wrong."

  "A few of the details?!" said Chloe, when Irene recounted her conversation a minute or two later. "The destruction of America is one hell of a big detail!"

  "Watch your language," Irene cautioned. She should have known from past experience that such a warning would not stop her strong-willed daughter. Even bothering to make such a correction was out of character for Irene, who tended to let her children do what they liked.

  "I'm sorry, Chloe," Irene said quickly. "It's all the pressure." And then she looked at her daughter in the light of the candle, with soot all over her face, and she longed once again for her to accept Jesus. Tears began to flow as she spoke, "This may be your last chance, honey. Wouldn't you like to get right with the Lord now, so that you can go with us?"

  "I'm not going with anyone until I'm sure that it's safe out there," said Chloe. And then she added, "You aren't seriously thinking of going with him, are you? You'll get yourself killed!"

  "What else are we supposed to do?" asked Raymie. "Just sit here and starve to death?"

  Chloe shared her brother's frustration, but she did not let on. "What we need to do is sit here and listen to the radio. Civil Defence knows what's best. They said radiation is at its worst for the first 24 hours after the explosion. It could be suicidal to go out there now. Someone may come and rescue us. Or they may decide that it's safe for us to come out after a while. We just have to keep our heads and not panic. What they're saying now is for people to find shelter and wait."

  Just then the phone rang. Irene picked it up. It was Rayford.

  "Irene, I'm sorry to bother you at such an odd hour. I was worrying about you."

  "Oh Rayford! It's awful! Chicago has been bombed, and some other cities too… No, seriously! It's on the radio… We're not hurt, just hiding in the basement… Are you okay? … When will you be home? … London? Why London? … But you will be back tonight, won't you? … Oh, this is awful! Just awful! … Yes, I understand. … I'll try. Do you have any idea how long you might be? … I can't hear you. Your voice is breaking up… Oh dear, I've lost him."

  Pan Continental, the airlines for which Rayford flew, had been the first to experiment with microwave satellite equipment on transatlantic flights. It was only good for a short, specified distance on each flight, but it meant that pilots had one more window through which to receive important information on long, lonely flights. Rayford had obviously used some of his precious satellite time to contact Irene.

  Irene turned to the children. "Daddy couldn't land because of the bombs. He's on his way back to London. At least he's safe, and he knows we are too."

  Zion Ben-Jonah Writes:

  There is disagreement over whether Christians will be taken to heaven before the Great Tribulation, or after. Both sides agree: (1) That the seven 'trumpets' in chapters 8-10 of The Revelation refer to events that take place during the period called "The Great Tribulation"; and (2) That I Corinthians 15:51-52 is talking about what is called the "Rapture" -- when Christians will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air at his return. We need to study these passages to find the answer to the question about which comes first.

  I Corinthians 15:51 says that the Rapture will take place "at the sounding of the last trumpet". So when would that be? Before or after the seven trumpets of the Tribulation? Easy, isn't it?

  Jesus himself says that "immediately after the tribulation of those days", God will send his angels to gather together those who believe in him, so that they can meet him as he returns to earth. (Matthew 24:29-31)

  Teaching that Christians do not have to go through the Tribulation is popular, because it is what people want so badly to hear. But it is not supported by scripture. It is a false hope.

  The real question in this debate is this: "What are the comparative risks involved in each approach?" Anyone bracing for the worst would not have a problem if proved wrong. But someone looking for an early escape would be in great despair if their theory proved unreliable.

  (Table of Contents)

  2. Foretold

  The control towers were in chaos, both at Gatwick and at Heathrow… in fact, all over Europe, as they tried to deal with so many returning flights. On his headphones in the cockpit of the big 747, Rayford Strait had been able to pick up something about a charter flight missing off the coast of Scotland. It had run out of fuel while trying to get back to England. There was no telling what had become of the many flights which would not have had enough fuel to make it back to Europe. They would have been forced to put down somewhere in North America, with or without airport runways. There must have been dozens of crashes.

  When Rayford had landed and walked into the airport, he started to get a clearer picture of the enormity of the problem. Amidst the pandemonium of flight cancellations and unscheduled arrivals, the airport was abuzz with talk about a huge pre-emptive military strike against the United States, by Russia. It was 2pm in London, but only 8am in Chicago. The sun had not even come up on the West Coast of America yet, and it would be a few hours before any video coverage would be available, but every n
ews station in the world was interrupting its normal programming to give sketchy first reports of the disaster.

  Early estimates put the deaths at five million. Later reports would verify that the loss in human life was already several times that figure, and it would almost double over the next few weeks.

  Damage to cities, highways, and airports meant that reconstruction was out of the question… even if there had been no nuclear fallout to worry about. The entire country was without government, without power, without communication, and without vital transportation links. The central business district of nearly a hundred major American cities had been entirely wiped out. If the attack had not come in the middle of the night, the loss in human lives would have been several times higher.

  Hospitals in the inner cities had been destroyed, and along with them had gone their entire on-duty medical staffs. What medical and rescue services were still available had to function almost without administration, and that was assuming that the rescue personnel themselves were still alive and able to work. America was suddenly back in the middle ages; everyone was being forced to fend for themselves to survive.

  Emergency services throughout the English-speaking world were quick to start marshalling forces to airlift rescue supplies, protective clothing, and medical personnel to America, Mexico, and Canada. The wounded would need to be treated as quickly as possible, although for many hundreds of thousands, even treatment would not save them. Those who were already dead would most likely be left where they were.

  There were mixed feelings from the non-English-speaking world. Everyone was, of course, shocked. But U.S. President Gerald Fitzhugh had made many enemies with his growing military involvement in world affairs. He had conducted numerous wars of 'liberation', supposedly aimed at wiping out 'terrorism'. His closest aides swore that he genuinely believed he was doing God's will. They said that he experienced personal pain at the civilian casualties that he had caused, but that he felt it was necessary in order to create a kind of holy world peace.

  Xu Dangchao, from Tibet, had been elected Secretary General of the United Nations one year earlier, two years after Tibet had been admitted to the world body, and three years after the U.N. headquarters had been shifted to Geneva. Although Dangchao's policies were wildly popular with Russia and with the Third World, his hands had been tied because of America's veto power in the U.N. Security Council. Dangchao wanted to erase the Third World debt and to do away with prejudicial import/export duties, which had the effect of favouring rich nations and further crippling the poorer ones. America's weak justification for opposing the scheme was just that Dangchao was trying to do "too much too soon".

  Russia and China, who strongly backed Dangchao, were as stubborn as America about vetoing American proposals for military intervention in countries where the U.S. believed human rights were being abused. But the U.S. had ways of working around a veto from either Russia or China. It used its wealth and military might to form military alliances, with which it could wage wars on its own.

  Sadly, President Fitzhugh found that the more he had played God with the future of countries he saw as being "evil", the easier it had become to justify interference even when atrocities commited by the side he was helping were worse than those by the ones he was committing America to destroy.

  Of course the American public had lapped it all up. The important thing, politically, was that Fitzhugh had not lost a single skirmish while he had been in office. As long as he was careful to target small revolutionary movements and relatively weak countries, and then to hit them hard, he was almost guaranteed success. Troops would no sooner return triumphant from one conflict than he would be sending out more to settle another. Americans were more proud than ever to be Americans. They truly saw themselves as the saviours of the world. And President Fitzhugh, with his claim to being "born again", never missed an opportunity to remind voters that God was on his side.

  But now, with America in the throes of death, Russia, China, and their hero, Dangchao, had nothing to fear either from Fitzhugh, or from Britain or France -- the other two permanent members of the Security Council. (France had been distancing itself from the U.S. anyway.) It appeared that all three of the dissenting nations had been subdued in the space of just a few hours!

  * * *

  Rayford was told to get some sleep, but to stay in touch with the airport, so that he could be called in if his plane was needed for a mercy mission. All commercial flights to the U.S. had been cancelled. The British government had already declared a state of emergency. This meant that the British military would take command of all local airlines and all local airline pilots. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and many European nations were making similar moves to assist. Supplies urgently needed to be flown to North America, and refugees needed to be flown out. The entire population of the U.S. was about to be evacuated … at least what remained of it.

  There had been no reports of damage in Canada, apart from a couple of hits in unpopulated regions, and these were apparently caused by defective missiles. It seemed that Russia's war had been only with the U.S., not with Canada.

  England, Australia, and other countries that were sympathetic with America, had also escaped without a hint of attack. So airports in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, and Vancouver were being geared up for round-the-clock arrivals and departures. Rayford, along with all other available pilots, would be playing an important part in the rescue operation.

  Although he was tired from the trip, there was too much happening for Rayford to sleep straight away. He checked into the Airport Hilton, then laid on the bed fully clothed. He stared at the ceiling in the same state of shock that so much of the world was in at that very moment. He thought about Irene, about Chloe, and about Raymie. His concerns turned only briefly to other relatives in the U.S. who may have been hit.

  Telephone communication with the U.S. was virtually impossible because so many lines had been knocked out. Even satellite phones were being affected by the fallout. Fortunately, Rayford had bought Irene a microwave satphone, so that he could call her from the cockpit when passing through the relatively narrow band on the Pan-Con route from London to Chicago. That would now be his main link with her. He would probably be able to give her another call on his flight back to Canada.

  Images of how it must have been for the millions who had already died haunted Rayford. His thoughts returned to Irene and the kids down in the basement. There was comfort in knowing that they, at least, were still alive. With any luck, he would be talking to them within the next 24 hours. He silently thanked God for that. In time, he hoped to be able to find a way to get rescuers to the house, so they could take his family to safety.

  Late that afternoon, after a few hours of fitful sleep, Rayford awoke, showered, then left word at the hotel desk that he was taking a cab to the airport. He figured airline officials could tell him more about what was happening than he would be able to learn from any other news source.

  A visit to the airline offices above the departure lounge revealed that Rayford had been assigned to fly out at six the next morning, on a flight to Toronto. There would be only a few passengers (mostly doctors and nurses), but the plane would also carry tents, medical supplies, food, and radiation-proof clothing. They were already being loaded in a special hangar at the south end of the airport.

  Rayford further learned that, when word had begun to spread, only hours after the bombing had stopped, that Canada had not been hit, this had started a mass northern exodus from the United States. The northern highways were already packed with people fleeing the scene. Canadian authorities were frantically trying to set up refugee camps to contain them.

  Fortunately it was nearly summer, so thousands of people were quickly accommodated outside, near Canada's border with the U.S. This left churches and school auditoriums free to be turned into hospitals for the wounded. Helicopters and land rescue vehicles sta
rted almost immediately to ferry the wounded out of the northern states; but even then they were only able to service a few of the worst-hit cities. Vancouver was caring for the wounded from Seattle, Portland, and Spokane; Toronto was taking survivors from Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo; and Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec were doing what they could to help refugees from the area that included Boston, Rochester, Philadelphia, and New York City.

  At the same time, Canadians themselves were panicking about the fallout that was headed their way. Airports in all of the major cities were packed with passengers waiting for stand-by seats out of the country. Hundreds of flights which would have normally been destined for the U.S. were quickly rerouted to Canada, where airlines could be guaranteed to fill every seat, regardless of what they charged or where their destination was to be. Officials from Emergency Preparedness Canada were frantically trying to set up priority criteria for determining who should be allowed to take the first flights out of the country.

  A TV in the Heathrow VIP lounge updated viewers on how many U.S. cities and airports had been demolished. Aircraft were still able to come and go from some smaller airstrips. But that would not be enough to meet the far more urgent needs of the larger cities -- cities like Chicago -- which were the ones that had suffered the greatest losses. Milwaukee and St. Paul/Minneapolis, both closer to Canada than Chicago, were on their own in providing transport to the refugee camps being set up by their northern neighbours.

  President Gerald Fitzhugh and his family were believed to be trapped beneath the capital building in Washington, D.C., where they had been rushed to shelter as soon as the alert went up. If a bomb had landed close enough to bring down the White House (which appeared to be the case), then escape for those beneath it would not be easy.

  People who had survived the bombing were being told via radio broadcasts to seek shelter and to await further instructions. There would be attempts to relocate them to places away from the fallout; but first the authorities needed to establish exactly where that might be. Weather reports before the attack showed a cold front moving southeast across the Midwest. The fallout cloud would, therefore, be likely to move in that direction. However this was only good news for people on the American West Coast, because for every cloud moving away from other localities, there was another coming toward them from the west.