Throughout his life, whether as Paul or as Agabus, or even later as The Teacher, he experienced visions of things that had not yet come to pass, but often would, sometime later. Most recently, after the Event, he had one recurring vision of many insects flying west, confirming to him that they needed to move west, although he still didn’t know to where. He even asked Thomas, his most trusted advisor, if he had seen these insects. Thomas confirmed they were solely his visions. So, he had faith that they would find wherever they were going when they got there, or when he had another vision. Paul figured he was in good company, because many prophets of old were led by God to their Promised Lands: Moses, Mohammad, Joseph Smith. And so he believed he would be the next such man if he led his people through this prophesied tribulation.
Along the way, he had no idea how they would find their food, but John reminded him of when Jesus told his disciples to go from home to home spreading their word, and either people would take them in or they wouldn’t. Paul figured he would build on what Jesus said and told his own followers that if they weren’t accepted, those refusing them must be evil and evil people needed judgment. He added that just like Jesus promised the sword, they should use their army of followers to remove that evil from the land. From this discussion, Thomas formed what he called God’s Army using the talents of Paul’s followers and the weapons they had already procured. Within days, they were going from town to town as easily and smoothly as a warm knife cutting through butter, picking up supplies and more followers as they traveled, finding little resistance. Paul knew his cause was right and just because he knew other examples in the Bible when the Israelites rolled over their enemy, who were felled by the hand of God.
Paul “the Teacher” Agabus Fairhaven remained prone on the carpet of the house he had chosen as his from the kind people of Fossil Ridge, waiting for an answer to his most current query: should they stay here for a while or continue moving west?
The earth shivered.
Thompson Journal Entry
Continued…
Plan on More Upheaval
Even when you think that you have everything figured out, there will be more upheaval than you can imagine. Unfortunately, this will come to you at the worst time. It may be the death of someone close, the disruption of a plan, or even something like a natural disaster.
You will not be able to plan for upheaval; you can only plan for how you might deal with it. Assume it will come, like a thief in the night. He will prey on you when you are most vulnerable. Count on it.
38.
Free Fallin’
First the ladder shook a little bit, making Bill think that he was the cause. Then the ground beneath him rumbled, then the house, and then seemingly the whole world shook. Bill held on for dear life, trying not to fall off the ladder, which bounced on the cracking tile like a giant pogo-stick. The house’s windows shattered as the sandy ground of Rocky Point lurched and quavered. A deep thrumming echoed throughout the house, and then it just stopped. There was silence, only partially interrupted by a shard of glass falling from an already devastated bedroom window. Then the top edge of the ladder slipped out of the skylight well, dropping it and Bill ten feet. For just a moment, which felt to him more like a minute, he slowly fell through the air. During this slow-motion couple of seconds, he laughed at the thought going through his mind. It wasn’t fear that his life was coming to an end. It was Tom Petty.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were appearing in his hometown and he and his high school buddies had tickets. He played their music every day until the day of the concert. On that day, Bill was jumping on a trampoline when his favorite song came over the loud speakers outside. Then he jumped wrong and tumbled through the air. Like today, he remembered then Tom bellowing out the chorus, “Yeah, I’m free… free fallin’—” and then he hit hard.
His feet crashed into the kitchen’s island first, jack-knifing his shoulder and arm into the Saltillo tile, which was already cracked from the earthquake. Thud-crack! His right arm absorbed most of the impact with a noise loud enough that everyone heard it.
Lisa ran to him and knelt. “Bill! Oh my God, are you all right?”
Bill was cradling his arm, afraid to see how bad it was. “Holy crap, was that just an earthquake?
“Si, Señor Bill, but dat was da worst I feel before,” Miguel said, hugging his wife and child.
There was yelling outside, and a couple of gun shots. Bill recognized the distinctive sound of an AK-47.
“We don’t have time, let’s get out of here.” Bill leapt to his feet and jogged, holding his right arm close to his chest. It throbbed pain with each breath. With his good arm he reached into the top shelf of Max’s bookshelf, finding the latch after searching a bit. Then, he found the other one on the last shelf; the bookcase clanked and slid open slightly.
“Señor King, this is Danny Diablo Diaz.” A loud voice, just outside the broken glass of their patio door, startled them.
Bill swung the bookshelf door open completely. Reaching into his shirt, he grasped Max’s key and lanyard, pulling it out and over his head. Smoothly he fed it into the steel door behind the bookshelf. Miguel and Maria were mesmerized, having been to his house before. They had no idea this doorway was here.
“Come out and surrender Señor Thompson’s house, and we will let you live. You have my word on it.”
They slipped through the opening, first closing the bookcase behind them and then the steel door, engaging both locks. Two sounds welcomed them: the weak hum of the flickering fluorescents, and the characteristic sound of a pistol’s slide engaging a round. All heads spun around to see an outline of someone in the dark, walking towards them, pistol pointed in their direction. Everyone held their breath, not saying a word.
“Dad? Mom? Is that you?”
“Sally!” Bill and Lisa screamed in unison, not with fear but relief.
A muffled voice outside made more unintelligible demands.
The lights flickered off and back on again.
“I think the batteries are running down, since we haven’t been able to reconnect to the solar panels yet. We’re going to lose power soon enough,” Sally stated, very matter-of-fact.
“But how do we get out of here before Clyde or those other men burn this house down?” Lisa was frantic, her words squeaky.