Revealing Revelations (20 page)

“Don’t lose faith!” Auron yells in the backgound. Faith. That was the key answer.

I began to pray again. “I demand you to be healed in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, there’s power.” Then I begin to feel the same urge again telling my mind a word that I never used before. “Loose. In the name of Jesus I loose the spirit regeneration, I loose the spirit of healing power.” Then all I could do was chant, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” I repeated this name over and over it is all I can say…all I felt to say. Everything became healed on the man even his hair grew back in. Suddenly, the urge disappears and the flow of words quickly fade. I stop, not because of a loss of words, but because he looks down at his hands as he sits there astonished in disbelief. I turn around and look at each face behind me drop, all except Auron. He stands there with a face as cool as ice. As if none of this was something new to him.

“Thank you!” I hear the voice of the mysterious newly-healed man speak to me. I turn and look at a Caucasian male not an inch taller than me, with long black hair that comes down to his shoulders and dark brown eyes. His chin has the divide in the middle like Jay Leno and his nose was noticeably longer than most. Standing before me is a new man. “I don’t know what you’ve done. Or how you did it, but thank you. Now that I look at him, his appearance almost strikes me as familiar. He stands there looking at his hands, grabbing his body, licking his restored lips in amazement. I look at Auron and see Sparks and Jefferey who stand behind him. I almost want to ask for answers, but deep down I know it was only the power of God. I walk to the doorway where they all stood trying to get a look at what happened. I stop in front of them briefly, just long enough to allow them to clear the way. And I turn right after walking back into the lobby of the gas station and head to the coolers. I open the glass door and grab a bottle of Aquafina and close the glass door back. I then turn around and lean my back against the glass cooler door and allow myself to slide into a sitting position. I don’t know what exactly I’m feeling right now. I’m not numb or confused, I guess I’m more amazed than anybody. Twisting the cap off, I put the bottle to my lips and tilt my head back and drink the water like a man almost dying from dehydration. I can feel the cold water go through my body and it relaxes me. The mysterious man leads the others into the lobby still touching himself in amazement. He stands beside me now looking at his reflection in the glass cooler door.

“Ha ha ha. Even ma’ scar’s gone. Hot dawg!” he shouts, clapping his hands together in excitement. You mus’ be one dem’ miracles from God,” he says in a distinct accent. It was clear he is from the south, maybe Mississipi or Alabama. But what stands out about his accent is it has a laughter and silliness to it, as if pronunciation wasn’t one his strong points. I put the cold bottle to my lips again but take a small sip. He uses his fingers to separate his lips and looks at the vague reflection of the glass doors. “Ha ha ha. Even ma’ teeth’s white now.”

I smirk. “They weren’t always that way?” I ask him still trying to sort things out.

“Not tha’ I recawwl.” It’s hard to pick up on his accent but once I figured it out, it became just as comical as his statements. “Names Smith,” he tells me, looking down at me waiting for me to reply back.

“I’m Thomas.”

“Well, Thomas, I owe you,” he says, grabbing my shoulders and staring me in the eye. “I reckon’ all dis’ crayniss’ going on we might as well stick together. Let a man repay tha favor,” he says.

I pay his last statement no attention. I knew I was the vessel that was being worked through by God. I always believed in miracles and the power of healing, but I never thought that I’d be the one to do it. The others crowd around me. Sparks and Julie stand side by side at the forefront just staring at the man then to me speechless.

“I do believe we came here for a reason,” Auron says aloud, diffusing all attention from us. “Food, gas, and rest, right?” He begins to call off a short list of things and uses his fingers to count them one by one. “Ahem! So shall we get to it?” He asks everyone and they disburse. Shane goes behind the register to program the pump while Bazz filled up the trucks and extra tanks. The girls and twins begin to pack food and fluids. Jefferey unloads the cots while Smith washed what was left of his clothes in the bathroom sink in the back of the gas station.

After everyone finished their tasks and majority of the food and drink was loaded up into the rear of the S.W.A.T. truck, I pushed the two long shelves side by side blocking the window front of the store so no one could see us sleep in here. Now it’s just an open floor for everyone to pitch a cot. After everyone had eaten and were in their own cot, a conversation starts up.

“Auron,” Dana calls out from the opposite end of where Auron lays.

“Yes,” he answers.

“I understand this is supposed to be the end of days and it’s a lot going on right now but don’t you think scavenging supplies has been pretty easy for the most part.”

“Yes it has. But why do I detect the sound disappointment in your tone?”

“It’s not that at all, I just thought it would be a lot harder, I guess,” Dana says in her cot directly in front of the cash register.

“For now, yes, I agree. But I assure you things will change drastically over the course of the next few weeks, things may even switch in a day or two. But what I know and believe from the book of Revelations has taught me is that the world will become more corrupt, the human heart will grow cold, and an evil more devastating than we can imagine…will consume the Earth.” Auron’s words, whether they’re positive or negative, always struck our hearts hard. But this time, I think he even took the impact of his words himself. Shortly afterwards, a silence falls over the room followed by a snore or two here and there, courtesy of Shane and Bazz. I guess the two biggest guys would have to be the snorers in the group. But even with everyone in their cots I still catch some of the others glimpse at me still. No one has spoken to me about it, but I knew they still had questions they want to ask or things they wanted to say about what just happened here. But they keep their thoughts and concerns to themselves out of respect I guess, I don’t know. Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to tell them actually besides, “God did it, I am just a vessel.” Just a vessel, now that I think about it, I can see the irony. I focused so hard on exposing the so-called superior American government. I so hated being a tool, a glorified pawn that’s seen as expendable for a lying and corrupt government. That’s the true equivalence of the American soldier. But, that word, “Vessel,” makes me feel different inside. That being used by God is useful, like it’s a feeling of completion almost that consumes you. God, I know it is just something about being a part of His call that makes all the difference. I know and truly believe that he loves his children and not one of them is considered expendable in his eyes.

Growing tired of uncomfortably tossing and turning in my cot, I finally turn on my right side just to see Sparks wide awake staring at me. Concerned as to what seems to be such an interest in my direction I ask, “You can’t sleep either, huh?”

She remains quiet which drives me curiously to ask a question that may allow her to relieve whatever may be on her mind. “What’s up?” “What was that back there?” she asks me. “That man was a victim of radiation poisoning and was more than likely a breath away from dying when we found him. And you put your hand on his head and he’s miraculously cured?” She continues on with another question.

“Yeah, trust me I’m just as shocked as you.” I tell her. “I’m trying to figure out why me, but I’m more worried about what’ll happen next, ya know?”

“Next like what?” Sparks asks.

I prop my right elbow up as a kickstand to use my shoulder to hold my head as I continue this conversation with Sparks. “I mean, if God has me healing… what’s my role, my outcome in the end? Everything is dying and decaying around us. I mean, am I supposed to heal the world?” I say to her trying to express my thoughts of curiosity. “That’s honestly what’s been going through my head.” I tell her.

Swinging her legs to the floor Sparks sits up, indicating how badly she wants to understand the events taking place. “So… you’re saying God… did that… through you?” she asks with a squinted face trying to get a better grasp the incident.

“Believe it or not, yes.” I answer her. “Is it really that hard to believe with all that’s going on?” I ask her, but knowing it isn’t really that easy for me to swallow and I’ve seen more I try to elude further questions she may have that I too desire to know. But I simply didn’t have the thorough detailed answers to debrief her about the faith that has recently become the new topic of focus. It’s too much to explain. I mean, why would anyone take the time out to hear my truths of recently? But I still believe, without a shadow of a doubt I still choose to believe. Maybe it will be the same decision for her. Still looking at me with a puzzled look, I sit up as well and take the time to explain to her. “You missed a lot because you just now tagged along, but whether you believe it or not, God exists. I don’t fully understand it either, but he’s… working with me. I mean, like revealing new things to me.” I try to explain but she still looks at me amazed. “I guess it sounds like I’m just rambling on and on to you. I mean, I’m not good at explaining this. Auron usually does the initiating so I’ll be sure to send him your way before we head out,” I tell Sparks.

“No, you’re doing fine, Thomas. Just take me from the beginning.”

“Ha ha.” I laugh at the term, “Beginning,” Sparks so calmly uses. Should I start from the T.O.C or when I first met the man who impersonated John Todd? “Well, it gets more than confusing if I go too far back so I’ll start from where things went wrong In Miami,”  I explain to her.

“As a group we have come to certain situations are or were predestined from ancient biblical times. Like the unexplained disappearances that the media portrays to be part of some hoax from the fourteenth century called Croatoa, well, we know it was the Rapture. God came back for his disciples and those that are left have a final chance to get their acts together.” I look at her searching for a facial expression or gesture that may say she doesn’t believe or understand. But she sat there remaining attentive as if I should explain more. It’s more than just peculiar to me that I just shed light on something that almost drove me crazy when I found out but she remains calm. “Wait, you believed it all along too, haven’t you?” I ask her.

“I always believed in a greater being, I was raised in a Pentecostal church as a child. But as I grew older and joined the military I grew curious. You know what it’s like meeting new people making new friends. Good friends and people with big hearts from all over the world with so many different religions but similar beliefs,” she says with a trembling lip as her eyes begin to water. She uses both hands to wipe her eyes unaware of smeared tears she drops her hands in her lap. I knew what she was getting at. A close friend can seem just as pure as water, but in the end it’s only one true God. And placing friendship over discipleship brings will only hardship. Kind of seems like something Auron would say.

“So, in a way you became a Unitarian, trying to make sense of combining all religions. Cover all roads and hope they lead to Damascus kind of thing, huh?” I ask her.

Was I so wrong?” she asks me. That question brings forth more tears on her face. “Who really had the right words to say that made their religion stand above the other?” Sparks asks. “How was I supposed to know, Thomas, huh? How was I supposed to know?” She asks me the same question again conveying how uncertain she’s been in the past.

I wrap my arms around her and cradle her head in my shoulder as I console my old friend. “Shhh.” I try to calm her down as we slightly sway side to side. “All that matters is that you know and believe now.”

“I do. But what do I do now, Thomas?” she asks me.

“All I can tell you is to accept God and follow his guidance.”

“You mean become saved don’t you?” she asks. I’m surprised, not that she knew what she had to do, but only that she was like me. Had the answers the whole time but we both fell just a little short. But not now, no, not anymore our decision was clear. And failing is not an option for us any longer.

“Do you believe now in the one true God that sent His son to give us life through his sacrificial death?” I ask her.

“Yes,” Sparks answered.

“Do you believe that Jesus died and rose again only to return to the right hand of his father, where he sits in glory?”

“I do,” she responds.

“Will you allow yourself to live for God, die in the flesh to live for an eternity in His kingdom?”

“Yes,” she answers.

“Dear father, we come unto you…” I began to pray with Sparks asking God to forgive her and to save her. To guide her and build her and make her strong. The whole while, I see Auron watch us with half closed eyes disguising himself to be asleep. Time went on and Sparks went to sleep while I lay down, but remained awake thinking about where I came from and went through. What I would call my accomplishments and successes in life. And where I planned for me to go but it doesn’t matter because in the end I see it’s God’s show. And we’re either supporting actors that get remembered by name, or extras that are meaningless and unknown.

Night skies cover us with twinkling stars as its decorations. We’ve must have been on the road now for almost a day’s time. Sparks and I take turns behind the wheel, riding and driving in this hellenistic world. Nothing feels the same anymore as we continue looking for answers to questions that seem almost meaningless now. Why did we get bombed? Why cooperate in the destruction of mankind? What’s the plan for the Bermuda Triangle, and so on? At times it gets to be hard to even remember the questions. But we push on like Auron says and keep an eye out for strays; people that desire to find the “Way”. I’m starting to wonder how I stayed up for so long. I’m so tired that I’m beginning to feel numb. I’m starting to believe I’m a zombie, aware of what’s going on around me but can’t feel my body. The only thing I actually do feel is my eyelids weighing down like thirty pound dumbbells. At this point, saying I’m exhausted is an understatement. What happened back there at the gas station kept me up all night, thinking and trying to understand better. I’m having dreams and performing miracles but the more I think about it, I start thanking God that I’m able to do that. Things I was never capable to do before that I wished I could to save so many that died before me, especially Green. True, I stopped blaming myself fo her, but that didn’t mean I don’t wish she would’ve survived. Then I remember what’s going on now. And just let the thought of her having to face this just brings me back to the belief and realization that she’s in a better place.

Crunch! Smack Smack!
I look at Sparks to my right, who is still very much awake, munching and smacking on Dorito’s. Nacho cheese flavored from the smell of it. The nosey twins, or curious I guess you could say, sleep peacefully side by side in the middle space between the two of us.

“Thomas, do you read me, over!” A voice asks through the radio. It sounds like Bazz.

“Can you get that?” I ask Sparks.

Grabbing the radio off the dash she answers him. “This is Sparks, we read you.” I look ahead and see the lights of a city. They’re so bright even from this distance, kind of remind me of the city lights at night back home in Chicago. I try not to think about home at all after seeing what happened to Texas and Shane.

“The lights, you see it don’t you?” Bazz asks.

“Yeah, we see them,” Sparks replies.

“We’re just about twenty klicks out from Las Vegas.” That Haitian accent echoes through the radio. I feel a small hand tap my right thigh. I look to my right side and see Jessie.

“What’s up, man?” I ask him.

“What’s a klick?” Jessie asks.

“It’s a military term short for kilometer,” I explain to him.

“Oh, so Bazz was saying we’re twenty klicks away from the city means we’re about….” Jessie pauses as he calculates in his head. “Just shy of twelve and a half miles, right!?” he asks, excited that he may be correct. I pause and look at him for a second through those wire framed glasses into a pair of brown innocent like eyes. These kids are highly intelligent, I mean, even now they’re learning new things. Why are they still here? It has to be a reason more than what they’re telling. The two are so eager to learn, so ready for something new to be brought to their attention so they can digest it into their minds.

“Why these two God?” I ask myself. Maybe they have a role to play. I read and studied the book of Revelations back at the parking garage, and I remember reading about two prophets of God who performed miracles. Maybe, just maybe, it’s these two.

“Hmph!” A noise comes from Sparks grasping my attention.

“What is it?” I ask since she makes it clear she has something to say. A brief pause is given while she chooses the right words to express her thoughts.

“New York and D.C. were the first two cities in America to get bombed, afterwards, just about every other major city. So it kind of feels like we’re playing with fire. Well, to me at least,” she says.

“What do you mean?”  I ask her, trying to get a clear understanding.

“I mean, I barely, just barely, escaped the catastrophe in Texas. What makes this city any different from the rest that were destroyed over the last few days?” she asks me, not looking for an answer at all, but rather implying how uneasy she feels about walking into a potential targeted area. She had a point but I couldn’t let her ride into this city with a negative outlook on it.

“Well, we were in Miami a few days before we ran into you. Nothing happened there.” I explain to her.

“For all you know you all could have just missed it.” She was right nothing is to be for certain at all in these times and safety definitely was nothing more than something we hoped and prayed for.

Shortly after we finally arrive on Las Vegas Boulevard, where the strip of the city is so packed we have to drive at speeds at least twenty below the limit to avoid hitting pedestrians. Men and women walk and laugh together in this city. Prostitutes walk through the night. Bright casinos and strip lights dazzle throughout the town hypnotizing the wealthy to hand over their money as well as the poor who dream of becoming wealthy. The unusual shouts and yells of excitement serenade the city as people go in the Riviera, MGM, J. W. Marriot and other various hotels and casinos all up and down the strip. I see the taunting lights and crowds go on for blocks and blocks in distance. Then the Tahoe hits its breaks abruptly before us causing me to stomp the breaks. We all jerk hard, but if I wasn’t paying attention whoever was in the third seat of the Tahoe would be more than just hurt. We sit with mere inches of distance between us as we all await the cause and reason for the abrupt halt. Auron steps out of the driver’s side door and walks to the front of the Tahoe. I see doors open up and everyone gets out, so I get out and walk towards the front of the Tahoe where everyone congregates around Auron.

Walking from one truck to the next, I take a look at my surroundings. There is so much traffic in the streets the flow of traffic is at a complete stop. Some people are even getting out of their cars and leaving them in the middle of the street as if the boulevard is their personalized parking space. I notice each person is walking either into a casino or something that requires spending money for entertainment. Everything’s beginning to feel so familiar. The congested streets, the numerous buildings and designs. Everyone seems to have a one track mind here. It’s like de’ja vu, but I don’t understand why, I’ve never been to Vegas.

“Thomas!” Auron shouts catching my attention. He walks beside me as we walk through the crowds of the congested sidewalk. “We did good to come here,” Auron says.

“Why do you say that?” I ask him. And just as I asked him that, a man with a blue short sleeve shirt and white skirt walks right in between us. The dark brown hair of the wig covers his eyes as I look at him rudely walk in between us. Auron stops in his tracks.

“Have you not noticed?” he asks me hoping I would catch on.

“This is Sin City, these people need to be made aware they can surpass this.” He tells me helping me to understand. I notice a small group stops in front of a small storefront family owned business. The tiny white store stands out, the construction design is bland to say the least, compared to the other businesses here it doesn’t really seem like something that screams out Vegas. I re-route my course towards the small crowd before the tiny store, separating from Auron. If something stopped them from going inside a club or casino then it had to be interesting at the least. I look at the others in the group catching Auron’s eye and I point to the televisions in front of the mob of people that surround the glass window that separates them. The closer I get, I start to see a set of small televisions, no bigger than thirty two inches hanging from the ceiling inside the store. Standing outside makes all sound inaudible, but a news channel seems to be speaking on current events. It shows short snippets of piles of clothes in the streets of Oregon, crashed cars with no one in the driver’s seat and unexplained airplane crashes. I read the bottom headline on the screen and it says, “Croatoan Theory.” They show black areas briefly, I guess they hold an interview with the survivors, but what was said is still inaudible.

Then I see a video that seems like a commercial to a movie. An asteroid falls on a large volcano island and desecrates it, causing volcanic eruptions and explosions. Confused, I ask a red haired woman ahead of me exactly what’s going on.

“Excuse me,” I say, trying to get her attention while tapping her shoulder. She is a shorter red haired woman maybe from Irish decent. Her size and shape suggests that she’s younger, but as she turns around the wrinkles around her eyes explain otherwise.

“Can I help you?” she asks in a almost sweet crackling voice.

“Yes ma’am. Umm… that last thing on the screen, what was that about with the asteroid?”

“Oh you mean the Wormwood Asteroid Crisis? Yeah, it destroyed the entire Hawaiian archipelago. Both Mount Loa and Kea erupted and exploded creating a disaster all over the Atlantic about two days ago.” She informs me.

“Wormwood?”

“Yeah, it’s a shame too. I’ve been there once, what a beautiful place, but hey, I gotta get going. If the world is coming to an end I need to live my life up while I still can.” The woman raises her arms and dances down the street in a carefree charismatic kind of way, moving her hips side to side in rhythm to a certain tune in her head.

Wormwood. I remember the front page article asteroid I neglected to read fully. Hawaii. A whole damn state is gone. I look back at the screen and see red waves overturn what used to be the chain of islands. I don’t know if the water is red from lava of the volcanoes or from the blood of Hawiian residents and tourists. “Death of over one point two million,” the text reads at the bottom of the screen. The world is falling apart chunks at a time. I just read about that in the newspaper in Chicago and in the book of Revelations, and never could connect the two until now.

 Shook up by yet another foretold prophecy taking hold of the present reality, I try not to think about it anymore. It seems to be one thing after another pulling me into desperation and the only way to get past it right now is to not think about it. But the more I try not to think about it, the more I see these morally absent people as they pass by just as the red haired woman did. I start analyzing each and every one of them from top to bottom, trying to understand how they can know what’s going on in the world outside this city and still rejoice. Neither fear nor concern toward our ever decaying fabric of life seem to even be a thought for them. I notice how for some reason the blaring neon lights and logos draws them into its clenches. But mainly, the majority go into what seems to be a strip club. Making it out a few blocks down from where we are now I can see it. A large dark midnight blue building with flame designs around it. The sign reads in red cursive letters, “Abyss.” And above it is a huge mannequin in a wooden throne like chair it has a hood on covering its face and red glowing eyes. It’s a mad shirtless, muscular man with a crimson skin color who wears plain black pants. I think I get it now, all of this here was the dreams I was having the heartless people so concerned in following fleshly desires into the Abyss. I get the connection, but what’s supposed to happen here?

VRRRAAATTT! VRRAAATTT! VRRRAAATTT!
Screams and shouts are the quick replies at the sound of the sharp noise. Startled, I quickly turn at the all too familiar sound of gunfire just to find myself surprised to see Auron standing on the hood of the Tahoe with a M-4 in hand aimed in the air. He stands there with an angry snarl, obviously just as mad as me about things maybe. He ejected the ammo cartridge and pulls the charger handle back as the bolt releases the round. He puts the weapon down at his feet, then stands and looks around verifying he has the attention of the crowd. “Why are we still here?” he asks the mass of people the familiar question I’ve heard him use on us many a time to self analyze themselves. “The final days are here, upon us right now! Why are you, us, we…why are we still here? Is it because we were rightfully living our lives for purposes beside our own self interests? Or could it simply be that we’re just lucky in this cold unfair world?” He shouts loud enough that his voice can echo as far as possible through the city streets. He observes how attentive they are to his words over the temptations around them taunting them with sounds and lights. They’re actually focused on him.

“Good women and children have all disappeared right under our noses. Honest men have vanished from our sides. I know you feel death seems to be awaiting you around the next corner! Events have taken place that threaten our existence! You’ve seen sights in the last few days that kill the most important thing we can ever grab a hold to… hope!” Using gestures as he speaks, Auron balls up his fist before him. I look around and see people beginning to fade from the voice of wisdom. “Without hope we are lost, without hope you feel bound to these avenues of sin’s gateway’s!” More and more people ignore Auron’s plea and walk away. “I can’t give you hope, no! But, I can show you who you can put your faith in! A God that will never let go as long as you hold on!” He continues on.