THE DAY: A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series) (12 page)

Air
Force One –Over Oklahoma

              
"The king of Babylon has heard reports
about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of
a woman in labor."
(Jeremiah 50:43)

         
The
President’s Chief of Staff had reluctantly agreed to fly to California
for the fund raiser. He generally preferred to stay in DC, usually spending
fifteen to sixteen hours per day at his desk in the White House. The President,
though, had insisted that he accompany him, as his Chief of Staff was formerly
the Mayor of Los Angeles and thus could be expected to help raise significant
funds at the event.

         
The
President generally excluded staff members from his airborne office while
flying, unless they had a reason that the President concluded justified their
sharing his expansive office space. Nevertheless, the President’s Chief
of Staff knocked on the cabin door and entered the office. His face was drained
of color. His hands were visibly shaking as he held a print out from the
plane’s communication system.

         
"Yeah,
Carlisle, what have we learned about Los Angeles? It was a nuke, wasn’t it?
You look terrible, Carlisle, what have we learned? You better sit down before
you fall down. We’ll make it through this. We’ll find out who nuked
LA and Vegas,
then
we’ll nuke ‘
em
back.
 
But
before you tell me what you know, I want to know….where
are
we going? I need to be on the ground. Who knows what
they may plan to do to Air Force One?"

         
"Mister
President,
Nellis
Air Force Base isn’t
available due to the nuking of Las Vegas. We’re headed to Vance Air Force
Base, in Oklahoma….But you need to know what the
Penta
…."

         
"Where
is that? Where in Oklahoma? I don’t want to land in some
hayseed…."

         
"STOP,
sir….
uhh
, Vance AFB is in Enid, Oklahoma, sir.
It’s the furthest installation from the cities that are gone. What I
haven’t been able to tell you yet is that it now appears that ten cities
have been nuked.
Gone.
Destroyed.
DC, New York, Atlanta, Houston, With radiation fallout we have to be careful
not to fly into radiation nor land you in an area that will be overblown by
fallout."

         
"Did
you just say DC?
The Capitol?
Nuked?"

         
"We’re
toast
!…
.It’s over….Over. The total
count now appears to be fifteen nuclear devices detonated in those ten cities.
Mister President, this could be the end of America."

         
"DC
?....
You did say DC? Is that confirmed
?....
What’s
our level of confidence in….?"

         
"It
looks like they used three nukes on DC, so there’s no way that anyone
could…."

         
"Oh,
no….I can’t….I….At least the wife and kids were gone
from the White House. Have the guys in front patch me through to Air Force Two.
She should be half-way to Paris by now. I want to tell her I’m alright
and make plans for…."

         
If
possible, the Chief of Staff looked even worse than when he walked into the
airborne office. "Mister President….I truly regret….being the
one to have to inform you….but….but…."

         
"But what?
What is it? My family’s plane
wasn’t…."

         
"The
First Lady and the kids didn’t take off when they were supposed
to….She delayed the departure….It had something to do with adding
some more staff to the flight to France….and they couldn’t get
ready in time….and…."

         
"WHAT
?....
What are you saying? My family is….are you saying
they’re dead? They didn’t get out of DC? They’re dead?"
The President’s head fell into his hands. He pitched forward in his
chair, his knees hitting the floor. Tears streamed down his face, his hands now
hanging limply at his sides.

         
"I’m
so sorry, sir. The Secret Service last showed the First Lady and the kids in
transit to Andrews AFB at the time of the detonations. Their limo was on South
Capitol Street
bridge
when the nukes went
off….The communications center confirmed with NORAD. There could not
possibly be any survivors in metropolitan DC. It’s a smoldering cauldron
of fire and radiation, sir. No buildings left.
Just ashes,
and burning, and some limestone blocks, not many.
DC is gone."

         
NO….NO….It
can’t be happening....NOOOOO!!" The President arms were wrapped
around his body. He was rocking back and forth. Excruciating pain spread across
his face. "WHAT HAVE I DONE
?....
WHAT HAVE I
DONE?"

Lake
Sammamish State Park, Washington

              
On
the morning of The Day, Pastor Kirkland was enjoying reading a book on a bench
alongside Lake Sammamish, the state park of the same name. He had just finished
a dramatic chapter in the novel he was enjoying. He closed the book and looked
west across the wooded lake front. Without warning, the sky west of the lake
flashed from an azure blue to a brilliant white. The flash only lasted a brief
time, but it was so intense that the Pastor was temporarily blinded. He rubbed
his eyes, hoping to clear his failed vision.
Blinking.
Blinking.
Finally, he could make out his surroundings,
though his forehead hurt as if he had banged it on a wall. What was that, he
wondered?
Some kind of explosion?
Just as the thought
passed his mind, he heard a roaring, rumbling sound, not unlike the loudest
thunderclap he had ever heard. Just as the sound began to subside, the trees
across the lake bent sharply down, towards him and away from the source of the
light and sound. The wind pushing the trees down was so strong that several
small and medium sized trees snapped off, landing in the lake.

              
As
the hot wind grew in intensity it blew the book out of the Pastor’s hands
and knocked him back over his bench, hitting his back and head hard on the
cement pathway. Pastor Kirkland briefly lost consciousness. When he came to he
had no idea how long he had been in darkness. All he knew was that his head was
throbbing. He tried to sit up, grabbing the back of the bench, the legs of
which were anchored in the park’s concrete path. He again rubbed his eyes
and his head. He looked around in the park. The lake was littered with broken
trees and limbs. The sky over Seattle, west of the broken tree line, was
glowing
a peculiar orange-rose color. Again, he asked
himself, what in the world has happened? He didn’t have a clue, as
he’d never seen or experienced anything like this before.

              
Grabbing
the bench, he moved around it and sat down. It hit him that all five of his
senses had been assaulted in a matter of just seconds. Sight and sound were
first.
Overwhelmingly.
Now he could smell what seemed
to be dirt, or sand, and looked like flakes. As he parted his lips, whatever
was in the air, now almost visible to him, touched his tongue, tasting just
like it smelled. As he sat trying to collect his thoughts, he felt something
and looked down at his bare forearms. They were coated by the dusty flakes
floating through the air. The longer he looked down at his arms it seemed that
they were accumulating layers of the particulate matter. He brushed his hand
across the top of his head and saw that he had knocked loose some of the same
dusty material. He watched the particles float from his hair down onto his pant
legs and shoes. What is this, he wondered? If the Pastor had possessed a Geiger
counter he would have learned that his body was being massively irradiated by
the fallout from downtown Seattle.

III

AFTER

THE

DAY

           
"For
the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand – to
lay
waste the land of Babylon."
(Jeremiah 51:29)

           
"I will kindle a fire in her towns
that will consume all who are around her."
(Jeremiah 50:32)

           
"Daughter of the Babylonians; no more
will you be called queen of kingdoms."
(Isaiah 47:5)

           
"Fallen!
Fallen is Babylon the Great!"
(Revelation
18:2)

           
"The
Commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with
great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction
will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world…In our judgment
America’s margin of safety is shrinking, not growing."
(
World at Risk–
The Report of the Commission on the Prevention
of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism,
appointed by the United States Congress, December, 2008).

London, England

              
LONDON
(IRN News Network) --- Al Qaeda today confirmed in a videotaped statement aired
on al Jazeera television that, along with Russia and Iran and others, it was
responsible for the detonation of multiple nuclear weapons in America the day
before yesterday. Though the exact number of nuclear devices was not disclosed
in the statement, most British military experts now believe that the number was
between 10 and 15, apparently of varying
kilotonage
.
It is believed at least two major cities, Washington, D. C. and New York City,
were hit by more than one detonation. The death count of the surprise attack is
as yet unknown, but expected to be in the several tens of millions. If
confirmed, the attack on the world’s leading military power would easily
be the largest loss of life in one day in history. The al Qaeda spokesman
claimed in the broadcast statement that "America, as we first warned in
2006, is destroyed, and will never again persecute Muslims".

              
British
military sources said that it was still too early to determine the full extent
of the deaths in the cities hit by the nuclear weapons detonated in what
appears to have been a coordinated attack, with the weapons exploding within
seconds of each other. There has been no immediate armed response from what
remained of the American military, possibly complicated by the inability to
target the location of al Qaeda operatives. The electromagnetic effect of some
of the nuclear explosions knocked out most communication with America, the
effect of which is continuing. For those areas of the States in which
communication is still possible, a disturbing picture has quickly emerged of
highways clogged with Americans seeking to flee from areas detonated under
obviously apparent mushroom clouds. It was reported that medical facilities
near blast sites were quickly overrun by blast and radiation burn victims.

              
No
official statement has yet been released by the U.S. government, most of the
officials of which appeared not to have survived the three known nuclear
devices which destroyed Washington, D.C., the seat of the American government.
It is anticipated that a statement will soon be made from a ranking U.S.
official who did survive the attacks. Some isolated media reports received here
have said that most surviving petrol outlets have been drained of their
supplies and that food markets’ shelves were quickly emptied. With winter
approaching, some unnamed sources in Her Majesty’s government suggested
that significant numbers of Americans may die in the next few months from the
radiation effects from nuclear weapons, and also as a result of lack of food
resulting from a paucity of petrol and any meaningful way of paying food
suppliers. The sources also cited early reports of what may be widespread
violence by those seeking to obtain remaining food supplies and petrol.

              
Her
Majesty, who had earlier expressed her shock and dismay at the news from
America, is expected to make a televised statement by week’s end. Her
spokesman, on background, indicated that Her Majesty will respond to published
statements by Jihadists that Britain, and other European nations, would suffer
a similar fate as America if the star and crescent aren’t flying over
government offices by year’s end. Her Majesty’s troops, as was
earlier reported, are on full alert. A full shut down of British ports has been
ordered, on a temporary basis. The House of Commons convened in executive
session late today. No reports have thus far emerged as to actions taken, nor statements
made, in the closed door meeting. Some M.P.s called publically today for Her
Majesty’s government to immediately vacate London and its environs. No
decision has been made on their suggestions, according to government
spokespersons, who asked not to be identified.

              
Reginald
Sloane, press spokesperson for the Archbishop of Canterbury, suggested to
reporters in a hastily called news conference that the Archbishop would have no
problem with a Muslim "presence" at No.10 Downing Street, even if
that eventually meant a PM of Islamic beliefs. Sloane dismissed as
"rubbish" claims by columnists and others that the attacks on
America had been prophesied in certain Biblical verses. Reports had circulated
for some time before the attacks that many hundreds of thousands, possibly
millions, of American Christians, and American Jews, had emigrated from the
U.S., apparently relying on what they claimed were scriptural warnings about
the future destruction in the "end times" of a rich and powerful
nation. Leaders of the emigration had earlier expressed concern about
America’s refusal to support Israel should it be attacked by a coalition
of nations led by Russia and Iran. Readers may consult news archives for more
historical details on the outcome of the invasion of Israel.

              
Leaders
of leading British charitable organizations who were contacted today expressed
their sorrow at the attacks, and indicated that they are beginning to collect
medical supplies and food for transport to America, if suitable transportation
can be arranged. Numerous international corporations, who have now lost most if
not all of their ability to sell goods to the world’s leading consumer
nation, expressed outrage and shock at the attacks on America. Some privately
questioned their future economic viability, given the economic loss of their
largest trading partner. One CEO, who refused to be identified for this
article, suggested that the nations of the world reform and move the United
Nations, whose headquarters and most of its staff were destroyed with the
nuclear destruction of New York City, to Geneva, Switzerland, in order to deal
with what he privately called ‘this incredible Islamic violence problem,
before we’re all blown up’. No United Nations official was
available for a comment on his suggestion.