Chapter Two: The Day

In a small Kingdom Hall just outside London, Rachel Bridger was waiting, along with everyone else. Her mind was a million miles away, and her leg had been bouncing compulsively for almost an hour. She was hardly the only one showing such nerves.

A voice outside was audible through the door. "Jase, it's your mom! Come out of there right now! They say you can come out if you sign! Do it right now! I'm not asking! You have to get away from those people right now!"

Rachel glanced over at Jacen. The fourteen year old kid was the only one of his family on the inside of the door. He looked sick to his stomach. He had headphones in, but whether it was to drown out his mother or to just to pass time, she wasn't sure.

Beckah rolled her wheelchair over to join her. "Hey. Hungry?"

Rachel blinked, coming out of her thoughts. "Hm?"

Beckah smiled. "Praying?"

"Non-stop, all day. I'm trying not to think of it as 'cramming for the final exam'." Rachel admitted.

Beckah held up a small bag. "Got a few dried apple slices left. It's pretty much the last of the food."

Rachel shook her head. "I couldn't eat. Too... jittery." She shrugged. "I can't shake the thought that this is the craziest place for us all to be right now."

"I was speaking with one of the elders a few minutes ago, and he told me this was the only place we could go. I asked him why, and he showed me Ezekiel 36:22." Beckah had her bible out, and showed her the verse. "Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: "Not for your sakes am I acting, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you have gone."' ‘I will certainly sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you profaned among them; and the nations will have to know that I am Jehovah'."

Rachel blinked. "Why that one?"

"Because we were the only ones using The Name." Beckah said simply. "What happens next isn't about protecting us. It's about putting the wrong things right. Not just the things that were done to us, or to innocent people. Since Eden, the whole world has been a case study in answering one simple question: Should God have authority over the world? Today is about vindication of the Divine Name."

"And JW's were the only ones who even use the Divine Name." Rachel nodded, understanding.

"Every other religion on the planet made it their business to carve the Name out of their lives without exception; and all of them are gone. JW's put it on the front door of every hall. Painted right there on the doorposts for when the Angels came over."

Rachel chuckled. The laugh faded instantly. Nothing was funny today. Exciting, scary, intense, but not amusing. She could hear hundreds of people gathering outside the door. Everyone could.

The sounds from the outside grew sharply louder for a moment as the door opened, and closed swiftly. just long enough to let someone in.

Rachel lurched to her feet when she saw who it was. "Amy!"

The old woman hugged Rachel tightly. "I'm so glad you're here." Amelia crooned to the younger woman.

"I came by your house on my way here, but there was no sign of you and..."

"Too many of my neighbors knew where I lived." Amelia waved it off. "Now, shall we sit? Have mercy on an old woman's knees?"

Rachel had prepared a place for them. Most everyone was sitting in small groups. Family, close friends... "The Elders have been in rare form." Rachel reported. "They're keeping spirits up."

"Is anyone in poor spirits?"

"Restless, more than anything else." Rachel admitted. "I feel like lightning has struck me half a dozen times and my hair won't stop standing on end."

Amelia shivered. "Can you believe this?" She whispered. "It's really happening. I mean, it's really happening!"

"I hope it happens soon. Beckah tells me the last of the food is gone." Rachel reported. "Everyone here handed in everything they had weeks ago. There's nothing left on the shelves; and the breadlines are way too dangerous." She shook her head. "I saw the news this morning, last thing before I came. It's surreal. Half the planet is fighting over food and water, and all the news cares about is how many of us are still on the run. And the people on breadlines, wondering if they'll ever have a job again? All they can talk about is the Final Revelation."

"We knew it was only going to get worse before it was over." Amelia told her. "But given what's happening outside, it can't last much longer."

Rachel nodded. "Y'know, deep down, part of me always doubted. Not the Truth. I studied half a dozen religions, and this was the only one that seemed to make sense to me. But deep down, I always wondered if..."

"If the age of miracles was long over?" Amelia guessed. "Rachel, you're a skeptic. In a world where people get told what they want to hear instead of the truth, it's not a bad quality to have. And if I'm honest, I always wondered a bit myself. I loved what I was learning, I let go of a lot of my anger towards God, towards people... But you just never say to yourself that you'll see something like the Red Sea parting. It's just too fantastic." She poked Rachel's side. "Part of me was worried that the skeptic in you would tell you to go anywhere but here."

"I admit, part of me wanted to." Rachel nodded. "But the thing is? The skeptic in me was beaten the minute Tribulation started. There's a scripture in Revelation that says 'God would put it in their hearts' to do this unbelievable thing that would put the world on it's head. But it happened. Longer than i've been alive, the JW's have been promising that today's headline was coming. Any doubts I had? They were gone the second it started." She almost laughed. "Everyone outside this room is hunting us because of what we believe, but the fact that they're doing it is what made me believe more strongly than ever before."

Amelia put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm really glad you're here."

Rachel bit her lip. "Is 'being here' enough?"

"You're new in the congregation, love. We aren't instructed to be like other Christians  We're instructed to be like Christ." Amelia counseled her.

"But that's the thing." Rachel said quietly. "I've been talking to some of the pioneers, and they mention that they're worried, because they haven't had any bible studies. Pioneering for two years, and they don't feel like they've accomplished anything. The Elders say that even if the message is rejected, it's only our job to preach it, and any other day that would be a source of comfort, but right now, those ladies are getting worried, wondering if they've 'done enough'." Rachel looked awkwardly at her teacher. "And what's my claim to fame? Jacques dumped me once I started studying. My three closest friends in the world all wrote me off as a lunatic. I haven't so much as placed a magazine since I joined up a month ago..."

"Rachel, you're important to us. To this congregation. A week doesn't go by without you being surrounded by people-"

"That's because I'm tech savvy, not because I'm devout." Rachel scoffed. "I can't expect to gain eternal life by helping older ones with their devices."

"Why not?" Amelia countered. "There are two parts to our service. One is what we do in the ministry. The other is what we do for each other. Every time you help an older one download a video, it's a video they use at every door. Every time you help them with their email, it's helping them get in touch with loved ones, some of whom need the truth very badly and-"

"It's not about what we've done!" A voice declared from the other side of the room, as though answering her. One of the Elders, Brother Sheridan, suddenly stood up, away from the small group he was speaking to, addressing everyone. "I've been getting the same questions, the same worries, from everyone I've spoken to. Everyone's worried that they haven't done enough. Everyone's worried that even if they're here, they may have missed the bus."

Rachel couldn't help the nod. She'd had the same thought. In fact, she'd been having it all day.

"Well, let me put this to you:" Sheridan challenged them warmly. "Imagine yourself at the Red Sea. The Water stands up on end, and you head for the dry ground, and the salvation within... But then you reach the shoreline, and Moses holds up a hand. He tells you that he spotted you a few hours before, arguing with another Hebrew. Or he saw you watching an attractive young woman. You try to stammer out that it was just a look, just a conversation; that it didn't mean anything... But nope. Moses has refused you entry." He paused, looking everyone in the eye. "Was there any of that in the bible?"

The congregation shook their heads.

"The universe has existed for thirteen billion years. God is older still. How impressed is He with five hours in the ministry instead of four? God has spoken directly from the sky, made the sun stand still and sent pillars of fire that glowed every night for decades, just to show people he was around. Does he decide our fates based on how many magazines we hand out?"

A murmur went around the hall. It sounded kind of silly when he said it that way.

"Brothers, we give you warnings about violent movies, and pornography, even social media. These things aren't mentioned in the bible. These things are dangerous because they are bait on the hooks, because violence, immorality and bad associations are dangers listed in scripture. We warn you about the bait because of the hook." He gestured around. "We, all of us, have our imperfections. For some, it's something as simple as occasional gossip, or something as serious as lifelong addictions that you haven't beaten to this day. So if a brother who has successfully avoided the snare of say... alcohol for years, no matter how difficult it was... and then fell off the wagon a day before this all started, has he doomed himself with an ill timed mistake? Or worse, what if he fights constantly, and falls off the wagon every day? Hates himself for it every night?"

Another murmur. Rachel knew why. Everyone had been cataloging everything bad they'd ever done, the way a small child did when summoned by an angry parent without knowing why.

"Brothers, we aren't being judged by our sins." Sheridan said seriously, suddenly quoting scripture. "If sins were what Jehovah watched, who could stand?" He looked at them all again, making sure he had their full attention. "All the warnings the society gave, all the reminders about personal study, cultivating good habits, keeping up your meeting attendance... It wasn't because the ritual was important. It was because that was how you made your faith a part of your life. It was how you make the truth your own. It was how we come to see God as a real person, someone we care about, who we can turn to when we're scared and uncertain." He grinned. "I think today qualifies."

There was actually a light round of applause at that.

"Isaiah 48:18 says: 'If only you would pay attention to my commandments! Then your peace would become just like a river And your righteousness like the waves of the sea'." Sheridan added. "Listen to the words, feel the tone of them. God is flat out begging us to listen, to come to him. God turns shepherd boys into kings and his enemies into apostles. Imagine what he can do with us. It has nothing to do with how much time you spend here. It's about making God your strength with regularity, because that's what will keep your integrity strong. Every meeting you attended, every scripture you learned, every time you rejected what the world said about Jehovah God; every single time was adding to the foundation you have to make the Big Choice. It was all building up faith and reliance on Jah for this exact moment." He waved at the locked door. "Outside the dawn is breaking on the first day of the rest of eternity." Sheridan told them. "And believe me, I know how scary it is. What's scary isn't the guns, or the handcuffs, or the mob. What's truly terrifying is that this is the moment our whole lives have been leading us to. There's nothing scarier than having a lifelong dream suddenly be close enough to touch, without warning."

Another rumble of agreement. It was another sentiment that had been fairly common.

"This isn't a day for fear." Sheridan told them. "This is The Day. This is The Day when fear is banished forever. Every single thing you've done to make the truth your own; it all lead to the decision to come here, despite the whole world telling you to be anywhere else."

And, as if to punctuate the moment, two things happened.

First, there was a loudspeaker cry from outside. "Time's Up! Leave the building with your hands up in thirty seconds, or we come in!"

And second... the sky turned dark. A clear blue sky, suddenly turning to night.

Loud silence.

Sheridan spoke. "Jesus said: 'In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have conquered the world'."