Tribulation House: Reloaded

Chapter 26

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- 26 -

At our final meeting before opening the doors for Kingdom Come, my heart was barely in it. All I could think about was that 2008 Bayliner 192.

Still, we made it through the final checklist. The local press had done their stories, so we were expecting a big turnout. The actors were in makeup, the special-effects crew was making their last adjustments to the lights and sound and fog machine and such. Our carpenter was doing a walk-through to make sure every nail and every board was in place.

We had our merchandise all set up by the exit. Black T-shirts proudly displayed the slogan GOT LEFT? An assortment of stickers and key chains echoed the theme.

We also had our counselors standing by to grab prospects as they came through the line. The end of the tour was set up so you got your biggest shock at the end—the black room would burst into a bank of floodlights, exhibiting the blinding glory of the Lord. Every person who came through that final room would be dazed, would need help to get through to the exit.

The merch table doubly guaranteed that traffic would slow down by the exit. Thus, the counselors had ample time to swoop in and grab their prospects. They were armed with their copies of 107 Reasons Jesus Is Coming Back in 2007 and various cartoon tracts.

We were almost ready for Jesus. I checked the blueprints again, comparing it to the charts and graphs. This was our map of Kingdom Come, the demo model, if you will, of the “hell on earth” that would afflict mankind during the seven years of Tribulation after the faithful had been taken, “rocketed through that escape hatch known as the Rapture,” as Reverend Daniel Glory liked to say.

And it was good.

Every bowl of wrath, every scroll of judgment was represented: There was the Scorpion Room, the Boils Room, the Blood Room—it was all coming together.

The directors of the project had also taken the liberty to modernize the project, help patrons understand the evils of drinking and TV and Christian rock. None of these were specifically mentioned in Scripture, of course, but that was just how Old Scratch worked, and we needed to make that clear even if the Bible didn’t. The pleasures of the flesh were the undoing of sinners.

Not that every pleasure was wrong. I was still praying for a boat. I could imagine myself out on the water, conquering the waves. Could imagine following the path of a modern Jesus, using the boat to minister to the masses. Just float up to the dock, and preach to the huddled masses too poor to afford a boat of their own.

And the more impressive the boat, the more impressive the ministry.

It was a beautiful thing.

“Sir?”

I turned and jumped a bit. A frightening skull mask was glaring down at me. Tissue-paper flames erupted around it, crackling in the breeze of the office fan. “Yes, um…”

“It’s Tod McGinnis, sir.”

“Of course, of course. It’s just so hard to recognize you inside that makeup. You did a great job.”

“I’m Ghost Rider.”

“What?”

“Ghost Rider. It’s a guy in Marvel Comics.”

“Oh. Of course.” I remembered when the concept had first been floated during planning: a burning skull face. The directors of the project shrugged their collective shoulders. Sure, why not? There probably would be some burning skulls during the devil’s reign on earth.

How could there not be?

I turned and regarded Ghost Rider. “So, which horse does he ride?”

“Horse?”

“Yes, son,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “Which horse: Famine, Plague, what? He’s a ‘rider,’ he must be a Horseman of the Apocalypse, right?”

“No, he rides a motorcycle.”

I may have scowled. I did not appreciate these Marvel Comics people putting a rider of the Apocalypse on a modern convenience. But of course, they would get theirs. If they did not come to Kingdom Come and see the error of their ways, they would be trapped in that hell on earth with all the other sinners.

The evening went better than expected. We were packed. Most of the special effects went great. Our man in the video room—the control center, so to speak—kept track of everything, recorded everything, was able to spot trouble before it got out of hand. He saw the fire that started in the room of the fifth bowl—a loose wire touched a curtain—and dispatched someone with a fire extinguisher before anyone found out. He saw the power problems with the third trumpet room and sent another power strip.

As the night went on, I went outside for air. Thinking about my 2008 Bayliner 192.

The parking lot was packed, cars packed bumper-to-bumper all the way up and down the street. One car was being towed away.

I don’t know whether they were in a no parking zone or something.

Then I heard a smacking sound and a gruff voice coming from over by the corner of the building. “How many times I gotta tell ya to shut up?”

I saw a flicker of light by the dumpster. My eyes adjusted to the moonlight, and I saw the taller man and the shorter man from before. The shorter man pocketed his lighter, took a long drag off his cigarette, spoke up. “How ya doin’?”

I didn’t want to be unfriendly—Kingdom Come was, after all, a ministry. “Hello.” Then a thought hit me and I walked over to them. “How are you boys tonight?”

The shorter man answered, “Keepin’ warm. How about you?”

“All the excitement is inside. You should come and join us.”

“No, thanks, man. We’re waiting.” Another long drag on his cigarette. “We’re meeting someone.”

The taller man apparently had nothing to say. He just swiveled his shoulders and picked at his ear.

I looked again at the tow truck, now driving off with someone’s car. It made me think of my Avalanche and my 2008 Bayliner 192. I looked back at the two men. Pretty sure what sort of men they were. “If I needed to borrow a large sum of money…” I let the sentence trail off. I felt something harden in my chest. Someone trying to steal my faith.

“Yes?”

I started over. “If I had to borrow some money in a hurry, do you have any—um—suggestions where I could go?”

The shorter man threw his cigarette down and stamped it out with his boot. He looked right into my eyes. “How much you need?”

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There are 70 chapters for Tribulation House. You can purchase the whole eBook from Amazon, Apple, Kobo, B&N, and more! 

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