William H. Smith July 29, 2000

1204 Christmas Tree Lane about 5500 words

Pearce, Az. 85625

303-36-7671

(520) 826-1029

The Last Christian

By

William H. Smith

In the beginning God made heaven and earth. Next he made man and woman in his Image. Later he ordered Noah to build an ark, God ordered two of each animals into the ark, one male and one female. God then ordered rain for forty days and forty nights, Noah’s family and the animals were saved to replenish the earth. Jesus Christ was sent so that man on a one to one basis could save himself now the time is near for the great tribulation; this is the happening where Christians are raptured up into the heavens. A seven-year period of great tribulations must be endured. At the end of this period Christ returns to cleanse the earth of all evil before his saints return to reign with him for one thousand years.

Although this story is fiction, please remember that one day in the near future similar events as the one written here may come to past, probably there will be several stories such as this from each country around the globe. The people in this story are fictitious and are not intended to relate to anyone living or dead. The countryside and cities are real, and the chaos will probably be lived throughout the world, someday soon.

Fred Stone

Fred Stone grew up in southern Indiana; he came to Arizona after high school in the fall of 1992 on a scholarship to play basketball for the University of Arizona. He worked with a real estate company while attending the University, to help to pay expenses; he stayed with the trade after graduating from the University. His favorite hobby was treasure hunting, Spanish treasure and mines, looking for old mines and treasure vaults. He would spend two to three days on an outing. For his expeditions he owned a Dodge Ram Power Wagon four by four pick-up truck, that was equipped with a camper shell for sleeping, and a box attached on the back of the camper shell for grub and cooking utensils, the box resembled those used by olden day chuck wagons.

JUDY

One day while on real estate business Fred had a meeting with the manager of the local dog pound. He was not looking for a dog but one caught his eye, and it was love at first sight. There are very few dogs living in his neighborhood. His neighbors on both sides of him, the Garretts and the Browns didn’t own a dog, and barking dogs didn’t pollute the neighborhood. Fred had no desire of having a dog share his life.

As Fred walked down the aisle between the dog kernels, the dogs were barking and

jumping about, he noticed one that wasn't, she caught his eye as she stood looking at him with brown intelligent eyes and he knew by the eye contact that he was doomed. She wasn’t barking nor jumping about, she just stood there winning her way into his heart with those big brown eyes of hers, eyes that smiled with love and understanding. It never entered Fred's mind to bring a dog home to care for, and he would never allow one in the house. By now you have guessed what happened, he adopted that German Sheppard dog that was to be known as Judy (or she adopted him?), she also gained access to the house. That was four years ago in 1996, since then

she has been a faithful companion, and they treasure hunt together. Their favorite place is In the Tumacacori Mountains near Rio Rico. She also protects their property and that of the neighbors, the Garretts and Browns. The gates between the yards are kept open, Judy had easily won them over and made them part of her family.

INCIDENT

One morning about two o'clock, Fred was awaken by a pounding on his back door.

Swiftly putting on his house coat and jumping into his slippers, as he opened the back door he found a frantic Joanna saying, “you had better hurry Fred.” When Joanna and Fred entered the

Garrett’s back yard he saw Sam Garrett and an unhappy Judy, who had a male Hispanic intruder

lying on the ground, he appeared to be very scared and not about to move. Sam questioned the prowler who couldn’t speak English, and Sam was fluent in Spanish. Sam said, “He claims he was only passing through and he meant us no harm, he promises to leave and cause us no more

problems, he said, I believe him Fred,” as he grimed that crooked smile of his. That was the only incident that we encountered. Judy proved to be a good watch dog.

GARRETTS

The original owners of the Garrett's house were killed in a car accident, while on vacation back east. Fred had met their son after he moved in next door, Fred naturally gave him one of his business cards. He called Fred one evening giving him the tragic news and asked, “would you find a buyer for the folk’s house, at a fair price and handle the details,” of course Fred agreed.

When returning from an outing in the Tumacacori Mountains Fred and Judy stopped in Amado, Arizona at the Cow Palace restaurant, the restaurant is a favorite of Fred's. While eating supper, and teasing Bonnie his waitress for the evening meal, she said, “Fred if you don't

behave yourself I won’t tell you some important news,” his reply was, “sure,” she said, “really, I know of a couple that will be looking for a place in Tucson.” He answered, “okay,” as he waited for the punch line. Bonnie gave him a slip of paper with the name of Sam and Joanna Garrett and their address. Bonnie said, “they are planning to move to Tucson after Sam retires from the mine, and he is retiring in a few days.” The address in Green Valley so he decided to stop by, still believing he was going to be the butt of her joke. Sure enough the address was real and the Garretts were real. As Fred rang the door bell to see if anyone was at home, he knew Bonnie was laughing at him. There he stood before Mr. and Mrs. Garrett apologizing for his appearance, explaining about the three days and two nights in the Tumacacori Mountains. Sam and Joanna got a laugh as Fred stood there explaining his appearance, and he got a customer. As he stood there with dirty clothes, in need of a shower, and with three days growth of beard, it hadn't been a joke, Bonnie had got him a good one.

The up-shot is the Garretts liked the house next door to Fred. They made an offer that was accepted and they were now his neighbors to the east. He introduced them to the Browns next door and Joanna took them under her wing like a mother hen, Mrs. Brown was expecting their first child.

BROWNS

Bob and Susan Brown came from Illinois, and they moved in next door to Fred about two weeks after he finalized on his house. Bob spent six years in the Army working in demolitions, four years of this military service was spent in Vietnam. He now manages a Wal-Mart store on Broadway in Tucson. Susan operates a beautician shop located on Grant road, just across the street from the Tucson Medical Center.

THE START

Today is Thursday morning and in Fred's pocket is the largest Real Estate contract that he had ever written. The contract was for a cool twelve million dollars, and the commission was going to be quite a sizeable sum The broker was going to be very pleased with the contract. As Fred left his house about eight-thirty that morning with the cool twelve million dollar contract safely tucked in his pocket, and after asking Judy to watch over things while he was away. He climbed into his old Dodge pickup truck and headed for the office, but on the way he had to stop at the Tucson Medical Center, this was the morning that Sam Garrett was having heart surgery.

This was truly Fred's lucky day not only in his pocket did he have that huge contract but he also found a parking space close to the hospital entrance. Looking at his watch he noticed it was 8:45, just fifteen minutes before Sam was to go into surgery. This was an uncommonly fine morning for Fred and he was elated, but a little worried about Sam's operation. He was visualizing his broker's face when she was shown the contract, she would be grinning from ear to ear and saying, “okay Fred more for God's work.” She claims to be a Christian and always seems to be happy and nothing seems to upset her.

CHAOS

As Fred was waking toward the hospital entrance door he heard various crashing sounds of cars, hearing the horns blasting and tires screeching as automobiles were crashing. Looking out over Craycroft the street he had just entered from it looked like an unorganized junk yard. Fred stood frozen as he watched a police car that had just turned into the parking lot from Craycroft crash into the side of his pickup truck. Fred knew his pickup was old and a little beat up but it didn’t deserve this type of punishment, the cop driving that vehicle was sure going to get an ear full. As he approached the police car he noticed the driver was gone, he looked into

the police car and saw only clothing, a watch, a utility belt with pistol, and dentures laying on the driver's seat, the policeman driving the car was gone. This was bizarre, but it didn’t prepare

Fred for what he was about to experience.

Entering the hospital was like encountering a science fiction scene. Clothing was lying in heaps on the floor, people were standing in shock, some sobbing, others running from the building. Having but one thought in mind Fred hurried to find Sam and Joanna Garrett. At the surgery waiting room, he came upon a nurse with an empty gurney, Fred asked her with some hysteria, “where is Sam and Joanna Garrett?” “Sam is gone” she sobbed, as she pointed at the empty gurney, “he simply disappeared” she added, “Mrs. Garrett is in the waiting room” she said between sobs.

Entering the waiting room Fred saw it was empty except for clothes, glasses, and a purse laying on a chair, these items he knew belonged to Joanna Garrett, he simply stared at the unbelievable scene for a time.

Turning to leave the frightful scene behind he again came upon the chaos outside. Gazing up and down Craycroft, he knew it was going to be a long time before anything was going to move on those streets again. Beholding his old pickup truck with the cop car stuck on the side, he also knew it had to be left behind. The only way he was going anywhere was to become a pedestrian. Looking again into the patrol car and noticing all the stuff belonging to the police officer still on the front seat, he realized that the car was still running as he reached in and turned the ignition switch off.

Fred realized he wasn’t going to make it to the office so he tried to call in on his cell

phone and after several attempts the call went through. The voice on the other end was a very upset Elaine the office secretary, she was crying and could hardly talk, finally she told Fred about the circumstances in the office saying, “While I was talking to the broker she merely

disappeared right before my eyes, the only thing left is her clothing lying in a pile. One moment I was taking to her and the next she was gone”. After some consoling of Elaine he closed his cell phone and glanced up and down the street. Going to the office was out of the question, his twelve million dollar contract was going to be put on hold until something was resolved. The only thing he could do now was to walk back home, looking back at his old Dodge Pickup he felt he was deserting an old friend.

The walk back to his house was a little over a mile, during his hike he encountered some strange sights. Vehicles were abandoned along the roadway, some were on the sidewalks and lawns, others were crashed into houses, and business buildings. People were lamenting over the disappearance of their friends and family, while others looked about them in disbelief Clothing was laying in heaps as though the bodies had just vaporized, one lady was kneeling on her lawn, holding child's clothing to her face and weeping, another asked Fred, “Have you seen my husband?” She said, “we were driving down the street and he disappeared out of the car.” Fred kept thinking what kind of craziness is this, everything is insane. As he passed the grade school he noticed that all the small children were missing, some of the teachers were left and some of the older children they all seemed to be in shock.

Finally reaching his house he hoped to get away from all this madness for awhile. He was thankful to see no one had driven into his house, there were only a couple of cars abandoned near by, with their engines still running, he left them that way and went into his house. Judy was there to meet him slowly wagging her tail, she too knew everything wasn’t

as it should be in the world. Judy was a comfort and a good listener, but what Fred needed at this time was human company.

Glancing over at the Brown’s house Fred saw Bob and Susan Brown sitting on their patio hugging each other. Susan was about seven months pregnant at the time, when Fred approached they both looked at him with tears in their eyes, he saw the reason why right away

Susan’s dress was hanging on her, they were no longer expecting a child. Bob looked at Fred through tearful eyes and spoke in a soft husky voice, “we were sitting here counting our blessings and how good life was to us, and how we were going to fix the baby's room.” “When this soft, bright, white light appeared around Susan’s stomach and she was no longer pregnant,” he choked and said, “Her belly just went flat.” To say the least Fred was startled clear to his toes, he could only muster a weak, “I'm so sorry.” He said, “Sam and Joanna disappeared too” as he turned with a tear of his own and went back into his house.

Sitting in the kitchen sipping on a glass of tea with no ice, and Judy had her head resting on his lap. Fred thought back over the last few hours and pondered the horrible events he had witnessed, nothing that made any sense came to mind. Peering through the window towards the Garrett's house, he remembered some of the visits he had had with Sam. Some how their discussions over coffee would generally lead toward God, Christ and the Bible. One of Sam’s favorite topics was what he called the rapture, that's where true Christians disappear leaving a lot of confused scared people behind, and a disruption of every day life.

What Fred had just witnessed over the last few hours was everything that Sam’s theory of the rapture was, only things seem to be a lot worse. Everything was in a complete chaos,

with people disappearing, vehicles without drivers, the children disappearing from the school yard, the mess at the hospital the patrol car that crashed the side of his Dodge pickup, and the heartache of Bob and Susan. He looked down at Judy as he rubbed her ears saying, “old girl maybe I should have paid more attention to Sam.” She looked at him with her big brown eyes and whined, Judy was understanding more about this than him.

Stepping into the front room Fred clicked the television on, the topic on every channel was about the disappearances and turmoil the world was experiencing. Not only was Craycroft Street in a muddle but Tucson and the entire world was experiencing the same things. Planes had fallen out of the sky, passenger trains had crashed, with some passengers disappearing and

others left behind. It was obvious nothing was going to be the same again. The governments of various countries were asking for an emergency census so that the population that remained could be counted, and that all people remaining should have a biological chip placed in their hands or foreheads for identification purposes.

As Fred clicked from channel to channel he stopped on a religious channel. A well known TV preacher was talking and he stopped clicking channels and listened because he felt this morning's events were probably of a religious nature. The preacher was making a testimonial as tears were streaming down his face he was saying, “I didn’t really believe in Christ as I should have.” “With better understanding now I will be stronger then I was before the rapture, we are now starting into the great tribulation period, we are now at a point in time whereby we must either accept God's great gift of Jesus Christ or reject it. If we don’t accept

this gift fully we will be following the Antichrist, better known as Satan.” Fred had heard enough, he switched off the television and sat back to ponder on what he had just witnessed.

Reviewing the morning's events, recalling his visits with Sam, and what he had just heard on television, Fred decided he needed to put Jesus foremost in his life and to learn more. The logical place to start was at Sam’s house and with Sam’s Bible.

Gazing into Judy's eyes while scratching her under the chin Fred said, “old girl I missed the boat, and now I better swim or sink.” Fred knew the Garretts never locked their doors, and when Fred would ask Sam about this, Sam would scrutinize Fred with a lop sided grin and say, “Fred most folks are honest and wouldn’t take a thing that didn’t belong to them, besides everything in this house is worldly and wouldn’t bother me a bit if someone was to take all or part of it.” “The only thing I would come close to taking offense to is if somebody was to take my old Bible laying there on the reading table.” That Bible was what Fred wanted, to hold in his hand and to study it.

Fred walked over to Garretts and tried the sliding glass door, sure enough it was

unlocked. He came only to borrow Sam’s Bible but while he was there he locked the front door and made sure the windows were secured. Sam and Joanna wouldn't have cared if the house was secured but he felt better about locking it up. Picking up Sam’s Bible from the reading table he noticed it was opened to First Corinthians Chapter fifteen, and the fifty second verse was underlined with a red pencil. Which read, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Yes, that was the way it happened that quick, in the twinkling of an eye this morning on Craycroft road when all those cars crashed and the disappearance of so many people.

Fred took Sam’s Bible and two other books on the rapture. He said, “Sam if you return, although I have doubts of this ever happening, or if a relative of yours should come to take care of your things I'll see that these are returned to your family, for now I believe I need their help very, very much.” Fred returned home anxiously wanting to read and research the books he had taken from The Garrett's house.

BIBLE HELP

Throughout the night Fred searched through the pages looking for the truth and answers to his questions.

This is what he found in Matthew, chapter twenty four, verse thirty one, “and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Fred said, “I didn’t hear a trumpet but his elect probably did, the elect were those that disappeared throughout the globe (the four winds).”

In Mark, chapter eight, verse thirty eight, “whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels.” There it was the

Son of Man (Jesus) was ashamed of me and a lot of others, he thought, “Sam you and Joanna were right.”

In Luke, chapter eighteen, verse eight, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily (those that die because they are Christians). Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The Christians who were persecuted will be avenged, and those of us that were not taken up will have one last chance to accept God and his son Jesus Christ.

John the most outspoken of the Apostles, and the strongest follower had the most to say about resurrection. John, chapter five, verses nineteen through thirty explained a lot.

John, chapter six, verse forty, “and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.” The last day will be the last day of the great tribulation, therefore all of us who didn't accept Christ before the rapture will have one last chance to do so through the great tribulation, and it will be through much adversity.

John, chapter eleven, verse twenty five, “I am the resurrection, and the

life: he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” There is hope for me and for the rest of the people who didn't believe, or who didn’t believe enough and were left behind.

The first letter of Paul's to the Apostle Timothy. Timothy, chapter four, verse sixteen, “take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” Although Fred went to church when he was a youngster and a good person, it was now crystal clear he hadn't been listening.

Managing to get a couple of hours sleep, Fred awoke that morning thinking of Bob and Susan Brown. There were a lot of things he wanted to share with them.

With Sam’s Bible in hand he proceeded to the Brown’s house via their back yard, upon entering he could see they were also studying a book, it too was a Bible.

After the morning salutations were exchanged Bob said, “I think the reason our child was taken is that he hadn’t reached the age of accountability.” “Those of us who were left behind had reached that age, and we failed to accept God's gift of Jesus Christ. By not accepting Christ we rejected him ignoring the warnings.” “The children including the ones unborn hadn’t reached that age and were taken up with the Christians.” That was the way Fred would have explained the events and they proceeded to study.

Over the following months the Browns and Fred spent a lot of time together along with other believers they had found In Christ. The seasons were getting more difficult for them as time drug on, danger from “The Global Security Force” increased every day.

“The Global States” is the name taken by the one world government. Many groups of Christians were managing to get the word of Jesus Christ out via the Internet. The news media, television, news papers, were all either owned or controlled by the Global States, and they attacked the Christians every day. The “Global Security Force” were seeking out Christians and others who resisted the one rule order that was being established. The entire world had been placed under an emergency census order, and the people who refuse to be counted and have a microchip placed in their hand or forehead were executed. Christians were living in dangerous and perilous times, and more so in the days to come. Many met with a merciful death, while others continue to resist.

About four weeks after the disappearances Fred's twelve million dollar contract was

closed on- since the broker he worked with had disappeared and he held a broker's license, he was able to close the contract and keep the entire commission for himself. The total commission was three hundred and sixty thousand dollars, three percent of the twelve million. Taking the entire amount he exchanged it for gold coin. During the months to follow the gold was used to buy supplies on the black market, and to help support getting God's word out. He thought of his Broker's words, “Okay Fred, more for God's work.” At this point in time gold was their only

means of buying and selling, all currency was presently of The Global States. Christians and other people who don't have the micro chip placed in their hand or forehead couldn’t buy or sell. (Rev. 13 verse 17) The roads and stores were watched constantly, and they were always in danger of being discovered. Those who didn't have the mark of the beast lived in constant risk of being executed.

FLEEING TO THE MOUNTAINS

From the time of the disappearances to the present, two years have passed. During these two years they prepared for their escape into the mountains, there to live out their days in seclusion.

The time for the pilgrimage came at the end of twenty fourth months, the Global Security Force were going door to door seeking out Christians, and those people who didn't have the mark (micro-chip). Fred and the Browns left one morning at 2:00 AM, the moon was full, Fred's Dodge pickup which had been rescued from the hospital parking lot had a small trailer attached which he used for hauling trash was packed with supplies and equipment. Fred drove, Bob rode shotgun (the passenger's side), with Susan between them, and Judy laid on the bed in back a spot left for her and she could see through the sliding glass door. Their departure was concluded without the use of lights, and the brake lights on the pickup were disconnected. They were escaping into the mountains, to a place where Judy and Fred treasure hunted. It was south of Green Valley and on the north side of Rio Rico, and west up Peck canyon, they drove by the Cummings' ranch and on into the Tumacacori Mountains.

Along their clandestine move into the mountains they met with ten other Christians who were on their way into hiding. They reached the Cummings' ranch on Peck Canyon the next day, the Cummings joined their caravan, and their number was then fifteen.

THE NEXT EIGHTEEN MONTHS

Their hide-a-way was in an area where the Franciscan Priests dug limestone that was transported by burros to the Tumacacori Mission and baked in an oven, and was made into mortar that was used to build the Mission at Tumacacori.

Entering the secluded mountain valley was a narrow pass about twenty five feet long, a high cliff of about fifty feet on the west side and a cliff of about forty feet going down on the east side. Bob Brown and two other's knew something about demolitions, they placed mines, poof gas and other devices to protect us from unwanted visitors. The death traps were concealed with brush and placed in such a manner that animals wouldn't trip them, but any human traffic would.

The Cummings had several head of beef and horses in our valley of refuge. The horses were used for hunting, searching for another place to retreat into, and for commuting to the peaks where they transmitted their messages of God and Jesus Christ. The antennas were placed in difficult and hard places to reach, because the Global Security Forces were forever looking for them to destroy.

Water was plentiful as there were several good springs to obtain water from, the exiles had the cattle as well as wild game for food, they also learned what plants to gather for food and medicine. They made and hunted with bows and arrows, tanning the hides, and learning to survive off the land.

Three years and six months had passed, and the two witnesses in Jerusalem were put to death and left in the street. The President of the Global States was assassinated (The Antichrist). This was the beginning of the end of the great tribulations there were three years and six months more to try and survive in. The two witnesses were raised up into the air, and the Antichrist came back to life, and things were much worse than they were before (Revelations chapters 11 and 13), The Christians were now being pursued with more vigor.

One morning just after sunrise a squad from the Global Security Force tried to enter into the camp. The security devices did their jobs very well, the entire squad of fourteen men were killed, it was improbable that a dispatch of our location was sent to the Global Headquarters, but the plans of evacuation were still followed. Moving to their next locale in the mountains was accomplished within a few hours after the invasion attempt.

THE LAST CAMP

The vehicles that were driven on their pilgrimage, were stripped long ago of anything

of use. They had a few cattle left and about half of the horses, only one transmitter was still in operation, it was placed on top of Atacosa Peak, the other three had been found and destroyed by the Global Security Force.

At the end of six years it was discovered that other Christian stations had stopped broadcasting, and the transmitting site on Atacosa Peak was dive bombed and destroyed by two Global Security Force A-10s. On their six years and six months anniversary the Christians could no longer get God's word out over the air, and they didn't have the resources to build another transmitter. They knew their time was growing short and any day they expected to be

discovered. The mission of the Global Security Force is to annihilate all Christians left on earth.

THE LAST DAY

Three months after the transmission station was destroyed, and six months before Christ was to return Fred was awakened by a gun shot. When he rushed out of his crude shelter he saw his faithful companion and friend Judy laying on the ground about forty feet away, and she was shot through the head. On the ground beside her was a Global Security Force officer with his throat tom away. Her act of bravery had cost her, her life. Another Global Security Force

officer stood near Judy ready to put another round into her if she moved. As Fred looked about, he saw the entire Christian group standing, watching, and waiting for what they knew they were about to receive. The love of God surrounded them as a soft, bright, white light formed, as the Global Security Force officers commenced to fire into them with automatic weapons, killing them all.

Thank you God, now all your children had been raptured, and we thank you that no children were born during the great tribulation period.

In six years and nine months they had seen the rapture and lived through most of the great tribulations, they had escaped to the mountains, transmitted God's word, and now they will be with their Savior.

In about three months Christ will return with his angels to destroy the evil found on earth. Thank you Lord for taking them now.

He who testifieth these things saith; surely I come quickly, Amen. Rev. 22:20

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