Adam paused again, lost in the moment. Sam shook his head in amazement. Adam was incredible.
“When I regained consciousness,” he continued, “I was alone. The rock fall had completely blocked the entrance so at least I was safe for the moment. Of course, I was pinned under a massive boulder. It took me two days to free myself and open up a hole wide enough for me to squeeze through. I didn’t rest that entire time, scared that the demons would find their way through the back entrance. Obviously, they didn’t bother or I wouldn’t be here now. When I emerged outside, thankfully it was daylight and I was able to get my bearings. I went back inside the cave complex through the back, collected a few supplies and left. The cave was compromised. There was nothing left for me there.”
“What happened to the others?” asked Sam. “Did they get away?”
Adam shook his head. “I don’t know for sure. Some I found later on, but others — many others — must have been taken.”
“And what did you do then?”
“I walked. Sometimes I got lucky and found a vehicle. Once, I even flew but the engine choked after a few miles and almost killed me. Went through Arizona and then into California. Found Colonel Sumner and spent a few months working with him. That’s when I got promoted. It was good there for a while, but then I just had to leave.”
“Why?” asked Sam.
Adam shrugged his massive shoulders. “I felt restless. I knew that Colonel Sumner was doing a heap to help the people of California and especially Los Angeles, but it wasn’t enough for me. I had to do more. The Colonel had got in touch with some other survivors — especially military — in the southern states and so that’s where I headed. Took me the best part of a year but I found myself in Florida.”
Sam was astounded. “But that’s several thousand miles!” he exclaimed.
Adam smiled ruefully. “Don’t my feet know it. Anyway, I heard that one Eglin Air Force Base was still operational and I headed for it. When I got there, I was impressed. They had a full scale operation going on there and were well supplied. They put me to work and I was busy for well over a year, searching for survivors, hunting demons and the like. Then the submarine arrived.”
Sam sat more upright. Had he heard correctly? “What submarine?”
Adam laughed. “I thought that would get your attention. Yeah, it was a submarine alright. Part of the British navy. Unlike most of our navy, it had survived the tsunamis largely because it was in deep water when the Rapture came. Anyway, after the Rapture was over and things seemed to be settling down, the sub returned to England. It seemed things were a little better there than they were here but communications were still a problem. The sub and crew helped out where they could and things even improved for a while, thanks to some inspired leadership from someone in Europe.”
Warning bells were going off in Sam’s head now. Inspired leadership? To him that meant only one thing: The Antichrist had returned. His brother.
Both Colonel Wheat and Adam had been watching Sam carefully for his reaction. He didn’t disappoint them. The shock must have been evident on his face.
“So the Brits filled us in on this inspiring leader,” interrupted Colonel Wheat. “Seems he came out of nowhere about two years ago. Very charismatic and charming. That kind of thing. Wrapped whatever leadership was left in Europe around his little finger. Formed a new Pan-European government and got himself elected as its president. Things were going well. Even the demons didn’t appear as often, almost like this leader somehow had the power to keep them away.”
“What name did he give?” asked Sam.
“Mr. Sazaimes was the only name he went by,” said Adam
Sam almost laughed out loud which would have been highly uncharacteristic of him. He restrained the impulse with an effort. Mr. Sazaimes? So his brother was alive after all? He should’ve known. During their last battle, he had run him through with his sword, a blow that would’ve killed anyone else outright. It appeared, however, that his family was rather difficult to kill. His twin had some cheek though. Hadn’t even bothered to disguise his name very much.
The Colonel was eyeing him sharply. “What’s so funny?”
Sam sobered quickly. “It’s not that funny. It’s just that my brother — the Antichrist — his name is Semiazas. Mr. Sazaimes is simply Semiazas spelled backwards.”
Adam looked grim. “That’s what the people of Europe eventually figured out but by then it was too late.”
“So what happened next?” asked Sam, although he already knew. So far, all of this was part of scripture in the Bible. These events had been mapped out for thousands of years.
“Jerusalem was declared an international city,” continued Adam. “Within it, all religions had equal rights which was hailed as a progressive move. Given that the world was in turmoil, it was a popular decision.”
“Makes sense,” agreed Sam. “It’s all part of my father’s and brother’s plan to bring people gradually onto the side of Satan. Ease them into it, if you like.”
“Do we have any idea of the sort of numbers we are talking about here?” asked Colonel Wheat.
“If you mean how many demon worshippers we are potentially looking at, then according to what my master Hikari taught me, probably a billion people got taken up in the Rapture. That means that there were roughly six billion people left on the planet. That was three and a half years ago though. Judging from what I’ve seen here in the States, lots more have died or been taken since. There’s no way there’ll be anything like those numbers left now. Not only that, but the outbreak of disease seems to be taking its toll.”
According to scripture, in the last half of the Tribulation, disease would become more rife. Sam could attest to that, having seen it first-hand. He’d also seen the base’s hospital. It was almost full, mostly with cases of the bubonic plague which had run riot especially during the last few months. It didn’t surprise Sam given the amount of rats he’d seen. Rats that were often the only source of food the survivors had. Any bodies that Sam had encountered outside the base usually had signs of the disease — swelling, gangrene in the extremities and bleeding from the ears.
When the disease had first emerged in the fourteen century, it had killed an estimated twenty five million people — almost fifty per cent of the European population at the time. They had no cure. Even now, in the modern age, without access to antibiotics, humans were just as susceptible as they had been back then. Probably more so given the weakened state of most survivors. Outside the bastions of survival that were mostly military bases, things were grim for what remained of the human race.
Luckily, the base was well stocked with antibiotics which easily countered the disease. Those supplies were not limitless, but so far the base was managing with the influx of survivors. Probably about half of the survivors he’d just brought in had signs of the disease. Every single new arrival was checked for the disease, which thankfully, seemed to be keeping it in check.
Adam was nodding. “My intel is about two months old now but I heard the same report from Europe. Roughly ten percent of the population was taken in the Rapture. Then, lots more either died from disease or starvation or got taken by demons. Then things seemed to get better with this Mr. Sazaimes. He even let the Jews demolish a mosque and rebuild their temple on the same spot at Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. That’s when it all gets a bit odd. It seems the Jews then revived their ancient practice of animal sacrifice.”