The Countdown Begins Read online

  CHAOS

  IN

  THE

  BLINK

  OF

  AN

  EYE

  PART FIVE:

  THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

  AN AWARD-WINNING END TIME SERIES BY

  PATRICK HIGGINS

  COPYRIGHT © 2017 PATRICK HIGGINS

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American copyright conventions.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter, without written permission of the author. Address all inquiries to the author.

  All scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,

  New International Version (NIV) © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

  Library of Congress

  Cataloging in Publication Data

  ISBN 978-0-9992355-4-6 – Paperback version

  Published by

  www.ForHisGloryProductionCompany.com

  www.lsarglobal.org

  Publisher’s note: This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, organizations, and incidents portrayed in this novel are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Prologue...

  A synopsis from the first four installments of

  Chaos in the Blink of an Eye

  After countless millions of people silently and mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth—including all small children—in the blink of an eye, the world was plunged into unbridled chaos.

  In the days following the Rapture of Christ’s Church, the ultimate enemy of God raised up his primary human agent to carry out his diabolical mission, Salvador Romanero.

  The Miracle Maker, as Romanero was known throughout the world—after various predictions he’d made had all come true—was about to perform his greatest miracle: bringing peace to a tiny country that had lived in constant fear since its inception, the nation of Israel. But instead of a peace treaty being signed, Jerusalem fell under a sneak attack on that day. In just six hours, more blood was shed in the streets of the Holy Land than at any other time in Israel’s turbulent history.

  Much of the city was in shambles. Smoke smoldered from buildings everywhere. The most notable was the Dome of the Rock. The Muslim shrine that was constructed in Jerusalem back in the 7th century now lay in ruins.

  Muslims all over the world mourned bitterly. Mourning very quickly turned into outrage when Salvador Romanero announced to the world that the Dome of the Rock would never be rebuilt. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims flooded the Holy Land seeking revenge.

  But it wasn’t just Muslims Salvador Romanero was out to silence. Anyone opposing the one world government he was putting in motion—to include a one world religion—would eventually be silenced for good.

  As the Miracle Maker set out to create a brave new world, children of the Most High God were preparing for the absolute worst. They knew God’s unprecedented judgments were coming. After all, it was written.

  They also knew Salvador Romanero was the long-foretold Antichrist of the Bible, and there was nothing they could do to stop the Son of Perdition in his quest for global worship.

  Initially, Clayton Holmes and Travis Hartings, founders of the End Times Salvation Movement, used a website to connect them to other new believers also left behind on that fateful day. Both men prayed for weeks on end that God would give them a surefire sign, so they would know who was trustworthy or not.

  For three consecutive nights they had the very same dream. Both heard a voice saying, ‘Those who contact you regarding this dream are trustworthy.’ Knowing the Most High God was using supernatural dreams to bring His children together in these end times, while many showed interest in joining their rapidly growing organization, only those who’d had certain dreams were deemed trustworthy and invited to live on the properties they would soon have in their possession.

  But with the second attempt to sign a peace treaty with Israel now upon them, the chaotic world humanity had inherited after the Rapture would soon come completely unglued.

  Instead of peace and prosperity for all, Planet Earth would experience the most turbulent seven years humanity would ever know...

  Main Characters:

  Clayton Holmes and Travis Hartings – Co-founders of www.LASRglobal.org. Now that Salvador Romanero had been identified as the long-foretold Antichrist of the Bible, the two leaders were putting plans in motion that would hopefully counter some of Romanero’s advances. Both knew if they sat back and did nothing, they would be annihilated by the enemy without even putting up a fight.

  Pastor Jim Simonton – 48 - Lead Pastor at Southeast Michigan Evangelical Church. Left behind with everyone else, the devastated pastor, after realizing he was a false convert—and that his preaching had led many from his church to be left behind as well—quickly repented of his sins and was determined to never again preach a false or watered-down Gospel. In short: there would be no more false converts at his hands.

  Tom Dunleavey – 62 – Catholic priest who tried consulting Brian Mulrooney the day after the disappearances. After both men had similar dreams for three straight nights, they met for a friendly debate. It ultimately led to Tom’s leaving the Catholic church.

  Dick and Sarah Mulrooney – Married for more than 30 years, the solid relationship they always had was showing small cracks in the dam, after their son Brian converted to Christianity and distanced himself from the Catholic church.

  Chelsea Mulrooney – Divorced, and living with her parents, Brian Mulrooney’s kid sister was doing all she could to shield herself from the vast chaos in the world. She spent most of her time in her bedroom chatting online with friends looking for comfort in a world where so little comfort was found.

  Braxton Rice – Chief of security and vetting for Clayton Holmes and Travis Hartings and their upstart organization the End Times Salvation Movement.

  Doctor Lee Kim – Lead IT man for the website www.LASRglobal.org, and all other End Times Salvation Movement IT operations.

  Tamika Moseley – 27 – NYC taxi driver. Lost her two sons, Jamal and Dante, and mother, Ruth Ferguson, on the day of the Rapture. Tamika was driving two businessmen from LaGuardia Airport to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel when all hell broke loose, and one of her passengers vanished in the back seat of her taxicab. God ultimately used her to connect Brian Mulrooney and Charles Calloway in the days following the disappearances.

  Brian Mulrooney – 33 – Moved from New York City to Ann Arbor, Michigan, after graduating from Notre Dame University and being recruited by the Marriott Corporation. Mulrooney was at Michigan Stadium with his childhood friend, Justin Schroeder, to watch the Ohio State-Michigan football game, when Schroeder suddenly disappeared along with thousands of others.

  Justin Schroeder – 33 – Moved from New York City to Boulder, Colorado to attend the University of Colorado. Met his wife Heather at a Bible study in his sophomore year and became a Christ follower soon after that. Both were taken in the Rapture, along with their unborn child. Before going to the football game, Justin left a Bible at Brian Mulrooney’s apartment—wrapped as a gift—with a handwritten letter stuffed inside, explaining the many positive changes in his life. His hope was that God would use both items to open his friend’s eyes and ears to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

  Renate McCallister – 29 – Like everyone else on the planet, Renate was completely rocked by the disappearances. But she was too blinded spiritually to know what had happened on that fateful day. In her mind, if she couldn’t see, hear or
feel it, it didn’t exist. Renate was the main reason Brian Mulrooney had remained in Michigan the last five years, when he could have transferred elsewhere.

  Charles Calloway – 42 – Successful Florida businessman who was in New York City to teach success principles to his fellow colleagues at the time of the disappearances. Calloway was inside Tamika Moseley’s cab when his colleague, Richard Figueroa, suddenly vanished in the backseat next to him. The son of a preacher, it didn’t take long for Calloway to piece things together and realize it was the Rapture of the Church, and that he had been left behind.

  Jacquelyn Swindell – 29 – Lost her husband at Michigan Stadium when he was killed by an object that fell from the sky, after a plane collided with a Goodyear blimp hovering above the stadium. Swindell also lost the child in her womb at that time. After meeting Brian Mulrooney inside the stadium, she offered to drive him home after his car was destroyed in the mayhem. As she did her best to cope in this strange new world, without her husband and unborn child, she was grateful for Brian’s friendship, and agreed to join him in his quest for answers...

  Craig Rubin – 33 – While his two buddies, Brian Mulrooney and Justin Schroeder, left New York to attend college elsewhere, Craig Rubin remained in the Big Apple to work the family business, which consisted of three Jewish delicatessens all bearing the name, Mitzi’s. Rubin was en route to Ann Arbor, Michigan to join his two friends when the Rapture occurred. Craig never left New York City.

  President Jefferson Danforth and First Lady Melissa Danforth – The First Family were at Camp David with family and friends when the disappearances happened. Many vanished at the Presidential retreat, including the President’s and First Lady’s daughter, their son-in-law, and all five grandchildren (including the unborn child). President Danforth’s mother also perished that day, suffering a fatal heart attack after seeing her grandchildren vanish into thin air.

  Salvador Romanero – 30 – As the world mourned the loss of more than a billion people—either by death or disappearance—Satan raised up the young lawyer from Spain as his main agent in human form. Since becoming the unchallenged leader of the world, Romanero quickly became known as the Miracle Maker, after a few of his bold promises had to come pass exactly as prophesied. His next miracle was peace in the Middle East; namely Israel.

  1

  PASSOVER WEEK - THREE DAYS AFTER THE SURPRISE ATTACK ON ISRAEL

  SALVADOR ROMANERO STOOD BEFORE the Western Wall (also known as the Wailing Wall), wearing a brilliant white custom-tailored suit. It was identical to the one he wore on what turned out to be a scratched peace treaty signing with the nation of Israel.

  When bombs started falling from the Israeli sky the other day, Romanero was taken to an underground bunker at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He stripped out of all his clothing and ordered everything burned, including the shoes he wore. Even the white stallion he rode on that day was put down, never to be mounted again.

  When news came a short while later that his parents were killed by a bomb that struck the King David Hotel—a bomb meant for his destruction—Romanero’s rage was such that he felt like burning down the entire city, using his clothing as added kindling.

  It took three nights of solitude with the Master Deceiver before he was finally able to calm himself down.

  Standing on the Miracle Maker’s right was the Pope, stripped of the futuristic garb he wore last time. Normally when meeting with world leaders and foreign dignitaries, the Pope wore white while everyone else wore dark colors.

  That long-time tradition, rule rather, changed once Salvador Romanero became the undisputed leader of the world. Now Romanero wore white. The Pope wore purple and scarlet. He looked more like a glorified cardinal than the Bishop of Rome.

  On Romanero’s left was Israel’s Prime Minister wearing a black suit. The Kippah on his head and neck tie were both pure blue, identical to the color of the Star of David on his country’s flag.

  Flanking the three men on either side were UN Secretary-General, Li Ping and NATO Secretary-General, Jurgen Staat. Standing behind the five men, on bleachers positioned directly in front of the Western Wall, were the same world leaders as last time. While thousands had perished during the botched sneak attack on the Holy Land, there were no casualties among this group. Having survived the mayhem, they were grateful.

  Eager as they were to witness the peace treaty signing, they were still too shell-shocked from the ear-splitting explosions the other day to look joyous now. Not only that, they were mourning the deaths of family members, friends and peers who lost their lives in Jerusalem.

  In that light, it felt more like another vigil than anything else.

  If they needed yet another reminder of what happened the other day, they didn’t have to look too far. Directly above them off to the right, out of view of the cameras, the Dome of the Rock lay in ruins after being struck by a bomb meant for the Western Wall.

  Even three days later the Muslim holy site, which had stood since 691 A.D., smoldered. To make things worse, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic Museum—which both stood in the Temple courtyard atop the Western Wall—were stormed the following day by an angry mob of citizens and set ablaze.

  Many religious artifacts and symbols were removed from the two holy sites and destroyed in the courtyard for all to see. Muslims were already outraged after Romanero declared that the Dome of the Rock would never be rebuilt. Hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the Holy Land vowing revenge.

  Now this? Their anger couldn’t be contained...

  None of this would have seemed thinkable three days before. Bombs were being dismantled, guns were being holstered and even destroyed, as the promise of peace lay thick in the air.

  After many months of doom and gloom, it was as if Jerusalem had come back from the dead. Tourist sites, restaurants and pubs were full of paying customers, many of whom were famous for something. Record profits were being made.

  Marching bands performed in the streets of Jerusalem for the jovial peace-seeking crowds. Teenage Jews and Palestinians played together and even exchanged gifts with one another. Hundreds of white doves were set to take flight from the Wailing Wall the moment the peace treaty was signed.

  There was great cause for optimism. Then bombs started falling on them and the numerous celebration festivities leading up to the main event came to a screeching halt.

  Tourist sites not destroyed by the bombing were once again cordoned off to visitors and would remain that way for the foreseeable future. Most shops, restaurants and pubs were once again closed for business. Owners of those establishments wondered in silence if they would survive this latest setback.

  They feared not.

  Hospitals and clinics were bombarded with patients suffering various life-threatening injuries. Triage units were set up in hospital parking lots and in the streets of the Holy Land to accommodate the masses. Limousines used to transport the world’s elite to the Wailing Wall the other day were turned into makeshift ambulances, transporting patients to hospitals in the region, as medic helicopters carried critical condition patients to hospitals in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.

  Burn units were full beyond capacity. Only patients whose bodies were severely burned in the flames were admitted, leaving those with minor burns to tend to their wounds themselves.

  With a world on edge and Jerusalem once again at the epicenter of it all, many who felt so “blessed” to be in the Holy Land had since left for home. As a result, the crowd size had dwindled by at least half.

  Those who were unable to travel to Israel were never more grateful to be far away from the Holy Land. Even many miles away, they could almost feel their homes shaking from army tanks making their way up and down the streets of Jerusalem, as armed soldiers and Israeli police blanketed the city armed to the teeth.

  Witnessing the mayhem all around them, press members on Romanero’s A-List weren’t so sure they still wanted the “dubious honor” of being awarded the choicest locations from w
hich to broadcast. They couldn’t help but wonder if they were still in harm’s way, if imminent danger still lurked in the distance...

  Would there be another surprise attack? Who really knew?

  Each time they glanced at what was left of the Dome of the Rock, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic Museum, they wondered in silence if peace in Israel was even attainable. If Salvador Romanero was a Miracle Maker, why didn’t he prevent it from happening in the first place? Once again, no one knew.

  As a whole, world leaders still looked to Romanero as an awesome and mighty source of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration, but you’d never know it by looking in their eyes.

  What caused most faces to quake in anguish—world leader and peace-seeker alike—went beyond the surprise attack and the subsequent destruction of the three Islamic holy sites.

  Those things were just the tip of the iceberg.

  Two days of chaos followed...

  On the night of the attack, Romanero had top military leaders flown to the Holy Land representing many countries. The objective of this global coalition was to bring justice to all countries involved in the sneak attack.

  The next day, in between meetings with military strategists, Romanero ordered the arrests of the two men on his security detail who’d wrestled him off the white stallion he was on when warplanes started racing this way and that above the Holy Land. The fact that they had touched him with the eyes of the world upon him—when they were warned repeatedly not to—infuriated Romanero almost as much as those behind the attack.