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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] world's oceans. Even so, few were taking any chances. Those who had water guarded it by whatever means available, while those without it used whatever force was necessary to get it. Wealthy neighborhoods where swimming pools were common became war zones as those less fortunate tried to relieve the residents of their liquid assets. There were, of course, many areas of the world where things like swimming pools and refrigerators and crock pots and flush toilets were unknown the lesser developed areas of Asia, South America, Africa, and India. In those areas people and animals withered from dehydration after only a few days. Those who had taken the communion lasted longer than those who had not, but ultimately the lack of water took its toll and tens of millions died. As much as possible, the U.N. attempted to send water to such places, but the supply was extremely limited and distribution unreliable. 6:30 P.M., Thursday, June 25, 4 N.A. (2026 A.D.) Derwood, Maryland George Rollins dug through rakes, shovels, saws, hedge trimmers, and various and sundry other tools and gadgets in his shed looking for something he could use to pry open a door. But George Rollins had never been much for keeping his tools in order, nor did he have the patience to keep looking, so when he found a combination hatchet and hammer, he altered his plan of entry and decided the hatchet was just what he needed. file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...Trilogy%20(3)/03%20-%20Acts%20of% 20God.txt (107 of 208) [12/24/2004 11:53:46 PM] file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/BeauSeigneur,...he%20Christ %20Clone%20Trilogy%20(3)/03%20-%20Acts%20of%20God.txt Steadfast 225 Climbing back over his old lawnmower which hadn't worked in three years but which he planned to get around to working on someday, he called to his son, George, Jr. "Take these two buckets," he said, handing his son two plastic pails with dried paint in the bottom. "Are you going to chop the door down?" George, Jr. asked, looking at the hatchet in his father's hand. "Not if I can help it," his father answered. "Let's see if we can find a window that's not locked. If not, then we'll either break a window or try to break the door open at the lock." "What if somebody's home?" the younger asked. It was a silly question; everybody in the neighborhood knew that no one lived there. Still, the idea of breaking into someone's house was a bit unnerving to a ten-year-old. "We've lived here three years and no one has ever been in that house. We'll just go in and, if the water is okay in the toilet tanks, then we'll bail it into the buckets and bring it back home. It's probably been in there for years so we'll want to boil it before we can drink it." "What if the police come?" "George, as busy as the police are, they're not going to bother us," the Page 118 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html father answered reassuringly. "All we're doing is trying to get a little water. No one can blame us for that. Besides, if we don't take it somebody else will. We just thought of it first." Arriving at the house, George, Sr. added, "Let's start in the back. We don't want anybody knowing what we're up to or they'll want some of the water for themselves." They tried the sliding glass door to the dining room first but without success. Next they tried the windows but they were all locked. Though the curtains were all pulled, George Rollins knew the floor plan of the house well; it was the exact reverse of his own house. There was only one more place to try in the back of the house and that was the door that led into what in the Rollins home was the media room. "Look, Dad," George, Jr. said, as he pointed to a set of three grave stones. 226 Acts of God "Yeah," his father replied. "They probably died in the Disaster." George, Jr. responded with a puzzled look, having never heard of the event. "I'll tell you about it sometime," the elder said. "It happened before you were born." George, Jr. got to the door before his father and tried it. To his surprise it slid open about an inch, but then stopped. "Let me try," George, Sr. said, as he stepped in front of his son and tried to jiggle it loose. It wouldn't budge. "Ah, here's the problem," he said, pointing through the glass. "There's a cut-off broomstick laid in the track to keep the door from opening, but it's in there crooked. I think if I can just shove it hard enough, that it will. . . ugh!" he said as the door slid open. "Yay!" the son cheered at his father's success. Suddenly the curtains that hung across the doorway were thrown open, revealing an old man in his seventies. He was holding a shotgun. "What do you want?" he demanded, pointing the gun in George Rollins' face. Bandages hung loose about him. George, Jr., had not yet reached twelve years old, the age of majority, and therefore did not have the mark and the resultant sores, but he was certainly used to seeing grownups and teenagers with bandages over their sores. Somehow though, the bandages seemed to add terror to the old man's appearance. Instinctively throwing his hands skyward in a sign of surrender, George, Sr. tried to answer. "I'm sorry! We ... we didn't think anybody lived here!" file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...Trilogy%20(3)/03%20-%20Acts%20of% 20God.txt (108 of 208) [12/24/2004 11:53:46 PM] file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/BeauSeigneur,...he%20Christ %20Clone%20Trilogy%20(3)/03%20-%20Acts%20of%20God.txt [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |