The Final Garnering, page 1
THE FINAL GARNERING
To Garner: To redeem objects of value, once lost
R. Hilary Adcock
Preface
Although captured and sentenced to death, Chet Rawlins and Bruce Coal had overtaken the Enforcers in the Legion prisoner van and escaped. They have evaded capture due to Bruce Coals’ military skills, and the protection by Angels of Light.
The passing of time, and the challenges they have overcome, has shaped them into a formidable force against evil.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed,
for the LORD, your God is with you wherever you go.
PART ONE
THE CHAMBERS
CHAPTER 1
The world’s population that did not disappear on Vanishing Day, lives under the threat and brutal control of Capitia, and its two arms; OWO (One World Order,) and OHO (One Humanity One.)
Heaps of clothing, once worn and suddenly abandoned, lay over the fine, tan-colored powdery remains of what had been human beings. Humans whose souls were swept away on Vanishing Day, leaving all things physical behind. The evidence of the event was quickly removed and destroyed by OWO.
Communication systems are limited to land-based cables, trans-oceanic cables and the few cellphone towers that have not been damaged or sabotaged beyond repair. Legion Enforcers control the metropolitan areas,
but their manpower, strength, and ability to rule over the populations is diminishing. The Edicts, previously issued, have been modified to address the passing of time, and to compensate for the decreased manpower:
1. Implementation and enforcement shall be the responsibility of LEGION.
2. All civilian gatherings shall follow the RULE OF
11. Any civilian gatherings greater than eleven persons shall be deemed a violation and punishable by death.
3. Enforcement, sentencing and executions shall be the responsibility of LEGION.
4. All sentencing and executions shall be performed at midday, on the same day. And in locations of public gatherings.
5. All human remains of executions and suicides shall be delivered to OHO locations in refrigerated transportation containers, identified with the letters OHO in YELLOW, twenty-four inches high.
6. All females of child bearing age shall be apprehended, sedated, and delivered to OHO BREEDING CENTERS, in climate-controlled transportation containers, identified with the letters OHO in RED, twenty-four inches high.
CHAPTER 2
Collapsed structure in the suburb of Albuquerque, NM
Two ominous figures emerge from the rubble of the collapsed concrete building. Neither carries weapons that can be seen, and although their uniforms are identical, one is taller than the other. Their dark full-body suits are form fitted to their bodies and the black facemasks of their helmets hide their faces. A chilling breeze kicks up dust as it skids across the barren ground, and the sky turns blood red, as the sun sets behind them, and the collapsed building.
They come into clear view from the shadows, and walk side by side toward a frightened group of men and women huddling in a nearby drainage ditch. It was then that the people recognized them as Legion Enforcers. As the Enforcers reach the ditch, the tall one stops and stands on a concrete abutment above the people. He waits while the other Enforcer moves to the opposite end of the group. The fear and surrender that engulfs the people is evident by the knelt posture and occasional plea for mercy. The Enforcers stand in silence over the group, for what feels like an eternity, as the people wait for what seems inevitable - Death.
A third Enforcer comes from the shadow of the collapsed building. He approaches the other two and speaks out with a modulated voice that broadcasts from his black helmet. “Bring them.”
The tall Enforcer uses a hand signal to order the people to stand. As they slowly comply, he points to the third Enforcer and speaks with a similar modulated voice. “Follow him.”
The third Enforcer waits until a few of the people comply then turns and walks slowly back to the collapsed building. The emotional and physical pain they feel, emanates from the group, as they walk in single file toward a dark opening in the rubble. All are clothed in tattered shirts and shorts, and many are without shoes. Some limp and stumble over bits of broken concrete and shards of glass that lay in their path.
Two of the Enforcers take the group into the building, while the tall Enforcer leaves to initiate the next step in their mission.
The cool temperature inside the dark cavity of the collapsed building causes the scantly clothed people to huddle together for warmth. A musty smell of damp earth and concrete, drifts through the air, carrying with it the sensation of being trapped in an empty crypt. One of the Enforcers opens a steel hatch in the floor near the group. He climbs a few feet down into the opening, stops and points to the people as he addresses the other Enforcer. “Pick three. Two down and one at the top.” He then continues down and out of sight.
The Enforcer remaining with the group responds. “You and you, get in the hole.” He scans the group and selects the middle-aged man nearest the hole, to be positioned at the opening. The two young men he selected to descend into the hole, remain seated, as they looked back and forth between the Enforcer and the hole in the floor. Their lack of action prompts a stern response. “Now!”
The intensity of his words, and his aggressive hand gesture toward the hole, startle them into action. As they crawl toward the hole, the modulated voice of the Enforcer in the chamber echoes up to them. “I am waiting!”
The young men reach the hole, look in, and descend the steel ladder into the chamber. It is brightly illuminated and cooler than the cavity above. Tan gray dust stirs up from under their feet as they position themselves at the base of the ladder. The chamber is equipped like a bomb shelter with bunks, steel racks full of food supplies, and cases of plastic water bottles. Scattered around the floor are men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes.
As they stand at the ladder scanning the room, the Enforcer suddenly bangs his fist on the table he faces. “Get over here.”
The strange powdery substance on the floor feels smooth and slightly slippery, as they walk barefooted to the table. What they do not know is that they are walking on the physical remnants of the previous occupants, who were miraculously transformed and taken on Vanishing Day.
Moving through the chamber, they notice three stationary bicycles, shelves of books along the walls and a few children’s toys strewn around the floor. Large, gray, plastic boxes, with bright yellow lids, are stacked on the table and shelves. To the young men’s surprise, they see that the boxes are filled with clothes and shoes. Even more unexpected, was the Enforcers next verbal order. “Find clothes and shoes and get dressed.”
There was no delay in following the instructions, as there had been, when they were ordered into the chamber. While the young men dress, the Enforcer carries boxes from the shelves and sits them down at the base of the ladder. When he sees that they are dressed, he points to the boxes on the floor and gives the next order. “Take those up.”
The young men obey and soon, food supplies, crates of water bottles, and boxes of clothing are at the feet of the group in the cavity. The sight of clothing and food being provided for them, brought hope and even a smattering of smiles to their grime covered faces.
However, their joy was short lived. One by one, they notice a semi- truck and box trailer pull up to the building, with twenty-four-inch-high yellow logo on the sides of the trailer - OHO.
The middle-aged man gasps, and lowers his chin to his chest, as though not seeing the reality they face, would cause it to disappear. Several of the young people standing near him ask him what is wrong. “OHO. Of course, you would not know what that is.”
The question and attentive silence of the group causes him to whisper. “Yellow OHO trailers carry human body parts.” He pauses and glances toward the Enforcers gathered at the doors of the trailer. “And the bodies of those decapitated on Judgment Day.”
Weeping and mumbling emanating from the group catches the attention of the Enforcers. One begins walking toward the group, as the other moves a ladder into place at the trailer doors.
The tall Enforcer climbs down from the cab of the truck and shouts an order. “Get them loaded!!”
CHAPTER 3
Surface road, west of Albuquerque, NM
Within a week after Vanishing Day, Legion was fully formed and had taken control of the Interstate highways, closing the ramps with concrete barriers, and patrolling the highways in armed vehicles. It had been the intent of the Federal Highway Act of 1956 to create the Interstate Highway System for military transport in case of an attack or national emergency. Capitia used the events of Vanishing Day, to initiate the Act, and seize control of the highway system across the entire United States.
The yellow placard OHO truck, carrying its human cargo, pulls onto a two-lane road and heads west toward the Interstate Highway 40. One Enforcer sits near the rear doors in the box trailer and watches the captives. When not in uniform, he goes by the name Scotty. The captives had all found clothes and shoes to wear, and are sitting huddled on the floor against the head wall. The only sound is the rumbling of the trailer’s big tires, as they ride in darkness to a destination known only by the Enforces. The two Enforcers in the cab watch for other Legion vehicles, as they drive past abandoned shopping malls and burned-out buildings, enroute to a Legion controlled Interstate on-ra
When not in uniform, the tall Enforcer driving the big rig goes by the civilian name Chet Rawlins. The Enforcer in the cab with him is Bruce Coal.
Chet points in the direction of Albuquerque International Airport. “It looks like the airport’s closed.” Bruce glances out his side window and responds.
“Probably getting ready for a Judgment Day.”
Chet taps a flat manila envelope resting on the console between them. “Pull out the target sheet and cross off ABQ.”
Bruce opens the envelope and pulls out the sheet.
“There’s still equipment in that chamber.”
There is a tone of anger in Chet’s response. “We got all the food and clothes. That’s enough.”
Bruce argues. “Okay but I’m going to make a note that it’s still got value.”
Chet shrugs his shoulders in response. “Not worth it in my mind.”
The chamber in Albuquerque had been the first of three they had found, and the exact location of the four remaining is still a mystery. A message on Chet’s phone, before Vanishing Day, from his friend Thomas Winslow had led them to the Albuquerque chamber. There, they found an envelope containing a hand written note entitled ‘Target Sheet.’ The first three letters of each location matched an airport designation, followed by a series of numbers and three letter codes.
TARGET SHEET
To have found this letter, means that you did not understand the signs, nor heed the End Times warnings prophesied in the Bible. It is our hope that you will use the chambers and contents to help others.
To find the remaining chambers you must look for metal hatches on the floors, with a cross welded on the frame, at the locations below.
CHD = Chandler Muni, AZ (Civilian near Sky
Harbor Int’l)
+33.2905-111.0837
Intersection, Que at Cay
GYR = Goodyear, AZ (Civilian near Luke Air Force Base)
+33.4652-112.3611
Intersection, Lit at McD
LAS = Las Vegas International, NV (Civilian near Nellis Air Force Base)
+36.2222-115.0806
Intersection, N Lam
TUS = Tucson Int’l, AZ (Civilian and Military)
+32.2346-110.8098
Intersection, Spe at Goe
PSP = Palm Springs Int’l, CA (Civilian near 29
Palms Military Base)
+33.8162-116.5424
Intersection, Ram at Seq
OGD = Ogden Hinckley, UT (Civilian near Hill Air Force Base)
+41.2251-111/9694
Intersection, Was at N24
Although Chet’s phone had been lost over a year ago, he remembers the sound of Tom’s voice and the heart of the message.
“This is Tom. Don’t know where you are. When people disappear, look for the chambers.”
It had taken almost a year for Chet to begin to understand the riddle like message. Once he discovered that the numbers were latitude and longitude, more of the riddle fell into place, helping them find the chamber in Albuquerque.
When they had landed a small plane on a grassy soccer field, they saw the collapsed building with openings created by fallen posts and beams. A post and attached beam had fallen in the shape of a giant cross lying on its side, creating a triangular opening into the building’s remains. It was there that they found the small welded shape of a cross burned onto the floor frame of an air handler in the rubble. An air handler with a trap door into the chamber below. It was that discovery that answered the ‘cross welded’ portion of the riddle, and gave them the Target Sheet.
Now, with the chamber in Albuquerque behind them, and the box trailer loaded with supplies and captives, they continued to the next step of the mission.
Unknown to them, and four hundred and twenty miles to the west, is a woman of their past struggling with harsh reality.
CHAPTER 4
Breeding Center, Phoenix, AZ
Operation Humanity One Breeding Centers are sterile and efficient. The buildings had been hospitals before Vanishing Day, and are now converted for fertility and birthing. It was the Vanishing Day disappearance of every child, infant and fetus that prompted Capitia to create the Breeding Centers. The facilities were established in major cities around the world. The objective was to assure the continuation of the human race.
However, Capitia seized the Vanishing Day opportunity to create a human race born under their control. Every worthy newborn is baptized as a citizen of OWO, and all unworthy newborns are destroyed. The cold efficiency of the Breeding Centers, is punctuated by devices in the birthing tables. They are accessed by a small stainless-steel panel at the foot of the tables. Doctors and nurses do not know how it disposes of the unworthy, only that it is silently efficient.
Two years have passed since the Redeemers Clan was attacked by Legion Enforcers. The captured women had been delivered to the Phoenix Breeding Center, and locked into Deprivation Chambers, with the intention of breaking their spirits. One woman survived. Due to her strength, and the protection of an Angel of Light, she defeated the evil attempt, was released, and ordered to serve as a nurse.
Of the many doctors, nurses, midwives, and wet- nurses at the Phoenix, Arizona Breeding Center, she is uniquely skilled. Although her name tag reads N-12, her name is Ruby Bliant. What they do not know, is that Ruby is empowered by an angelic force that protects and directs her.
It is evening, and Ruby sits in the corner of her sleeping cubicle with her knees pulled up to her breast and her arms folded around her legs. She gently rocks left and right, as the soft sounds of weeping and words escapes from her partially closed lips. “I am afraid and tired.”
The tall and majestic Angel of Light stands over her and touches her heart with words only she can hear.
I AM HERE.
“Will this ever end?”
A feeling of warmth and strength floods over her, as the Angel of Light encourages her, and reminds her of who she is.
YOU ARE STRONG.
YOU HAVE HELPED MANY.
YOU ARE RAPHA -GOD’S HEALER.
She exhales a deep sigh, and feels a tear flow down her cheek, as she remembers the Redeemers Clan, Captain Lewis and the others who perished at the hands of Legion. It was there, in the Redeemers encampment, where Angels of Light had first come to her, and where she learned of her heavenly name and purpose God has for her.
She closes her eyes and sees faces from her past. She remembers Chet Rawlins, whom God had chosen to lead, whose heavenly name was Melek, and Bruce Coal, whom God had chosen as warrior, whose heavenly name was Gibbor.
She lays down on her cot and drifts to sleep, as faces and joy of the past play in her mind and heart.
It is not by coincidence, that another person of her past, is there at the Phoenix Breeding Center.
CHAPTER 5
Breeding Center, Phoenix, AZ
His name had been Jud at one time, but that name could expose his past life as an escaped convict and felon. Now he goes by the name of Jon.
The last thing he can remember, before finding himself on a gurney in the OHO Burn Center, was the bus crash. He had attempted to escape, wearing an Enforcer’s suit that melted down when the self-destruct feature was activated. The intense burning pain caused him to black out, and lose control of the bus.
The physical therapy sessions had made it possible for him to walk, even though his ankles were fused, and thick scar tissue covers his legs from the knees to the stubs that had been his feet. The hospital care required that he pledge loyalty to Capitia. He also knew that to reject Capitia would be a death sentence. To be released into society and reap the lodging and food benefits offered by OWO, required that he take a job with OWO or OHO.
After a skills evaluation, it was determined that he would be assigned to OHO as a delivery driver. On the morning of his release from the hospital, he was taken to the Phoenix Breeding Center, and assigned the duty of transporting body bags to Harvesting Centers. After two days of classes, he was given a black cargo van, a fuel card, and the keys to the gate at the Breeding Center loading dock. The van was fitted with refrigeration, intended to keep the contents of the body bags preserved during transport. Unlike other Legion vehicles, it did not have a tracking device.
