Armageddon's Slaves: Prologue

The roar of the crowd deafened Samuel Wilson. Seized by the same wild joy that gripped the rest of the audience he jumped onto his seat and punched a fist into the air. He felt silly for a moment, then he realized that seventy thousand Disciples were all doing the same.  Two seats away, his wife Judith, normally much more reserved, yelled her head off. Between them, their two children, Charlene and David, six and nine respectively laughed and clapped, although they could not possibly understand the import of the moment.

Far below him, on the speaker’s stage, set where the fifty yard line of a Seahawks game would be, the speaker stepped back to the microphone.  He held is arms up, asking for quiet. The Jumbo Tron at the end of the field displayed a close up image of John Rodgers, Chief Apostle. At sixty-four, with his craggy good looks and silver hair, he looked like an Old Testament prophet minus the beard.

The crowd settled down slightly, making it possible for him to speak again.

“I take it you are ready to live in Paradise.”

More loud cheering. Samuel could see people in the VIP seats around the stage covering their ears.  

The rented stadium retained its reputation for sound volume, even when full of normally quiet and reserved Disciples.

“Yes, my fellow Disciples” Rodgers said, “we know that this year’s series of Grand Gatherings, ‘Paradise is at Hand, ’” the crowd applauded wildly, “will be the last held on this wicked Earth before the Lord Almighty removes sin forever…”

More cheers cut off his words.

“Yes, my friends, next year will see Paradise brought to the Earth…” More cheering. “A Paradise the 

Bible foretold many years ago…”

The cheering forced him to stop again.

“… A message preached by The Word of God Foundation for seventy four years is now arriving.”

Again, cheers erupted, a frenzy no one had ever before seen among the staid followers of the Foundation. Judith’s sister, Sophia and her husband Caleb Larson occupied the seats directly in front of Samuel. Judith leaned over cupped her hand and yelled into Caleb’s ear, “Can you believe it, Paradise is here. We made it!”

Samuel smiled, he didn’t like his in-laws, but a happy glow had replaced Sophia’s usual scowl. 

Contagious joy swept the stadium, infected all present.

For a second, a thought flashed through Samuel’s mind like lightning, he hoped they were right about this. He quickly suppressed the thought, a thought that belonged to an Outsider, not one of the Lord Almighty’s Disciples.  Of course, Paradise was at hand. The Lord’s apostles proclaimed it, they were His chosen representatives to humanity, both wicked Outsiders and those in The Word. 

All the Signposts of Biblical prophecy pointed to human history ending next year when The Lord 

Almighty established Paradise on Earth.  Just as He intended when he created Adam and Eve; happy sinless, humans would live on Earth forever. 

Next year, 2008.

Armageddon’s Slaves © Jeffrey Thomas  All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. All events and characters are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.