Three cracking tones. A long high pitched tone. Silence. A computer generated voice said, "This is the Emergency Alert System. This is not a test. Repeat. This is not a test. A highly infectious pathogen has spread beyond control. On advice from the Center for Disease Control the President has issued a nationwide state of emergency. For your safety, do not leave your homes. Citizens should lock their doors. Citizens should barricade their doors. Avoid contact with anyone acting strangely. Consult local broadcasts for further information. This message will repeat."
"How long has that been going?" John asked.
"A few hours now. Nothing else is coming through. On any stations." Kevin replied. He clicked it off and leaned back in his chair. Light in the cabin was sparse, coming only from an old kerosene lamp sitting on the table beside him. The battery operated radio provided a small green glow from its dials, but even that faded into the gloom..
Through the window, John could see the others sitting around the campfire. They were all talking and laughing. Gillian had brought materials so everyone could make smores. "We have to tell them something. The world could be ending." John had organized the trip. As the junior pastor at the church, he wanted to foster community among the young adults. To that end, he'd put together a week long trip into the mountains at a fairly isolated camp ground where everyone could get to know one another a little better. Kevin and Gillian were the two other class leaders, each in charge of the respective men and women Sunday school groups. They were a small church, but young. Turnout, with over twenty signing up, had thrilled the organizers.
They left right when things started to make the national news. The government downplayed everything as a bad case of the flu. Still, with some of the rumors and smaller governments responding with a much higher level of alarm, John debated canceling everything. When it was time to go, he couldn't justify calling it off. Everyone remained eager for the trip, no cases of the infection had been reported in the entire state, and the President himself was on national television declaring everyone safe. John prayed about it extensively, and when the time came to load up the bus, he greeted everyone with his normal optimistic smile.
On the way, they sang praise hymns. John would have forgotten about the scare entirely, but he kept noticing odd things on the way. Supermarkets jammed packed. People loading up their cars with bottled water and canned goods. No matter what the President said, it seemed people expected something bad to happen. Of course, the world was full of doomsayers. John relied on his faith.
"I'm going up to the ranger station," Kevin announced. "I don't think we need to make a fuss about it, so I'll slip out the back and take the long way up."
John nodded, "Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe they have some more information. Or at least let us know when the power might come back. Be careful, the woods are dark. Think I should go with you?"
"No, you should get back out there. Everyone's been a little wary since yesterday. Us disappearing into the woods with no explanation might cause a panic. It's a fifteen minute walk there and back. No one will miss me." Kevin noiselessly opened the cabin's back door and slipped out into the night.
John started to head back out to the campfire, but remembered why he'd come to the cabin in the first place. He crossed over to his bunk and retrieved his bible from beneath the pillow. He held it against his chest and drummed his fingers along the spine as he watched Kevin disappear into the woods.
Yesterday, the electricity went out. Up until then, the week had been a fantastic escape from the worries of the world. They didn't have to worry about outbreaks in the cities or the attempted mass exodus of population from the urban areas. But the cabins losing power was unnerving. Firstly, it made everyone aware of the wood's eerily quiet. Secondly, it meant that contact with the outside world became extremely limited. All the attendees had volunteered their phones and devices at the beginning of the week so that they could better focus on building spiritual bonds. Still, they'd been allowed to check them each night before lights out in case of emergency or to call home. Once the power was out, the inadequate battery life of every phone became rapidly apparent. Other than the odd phone call, the phones hadn't been much use anyway. The campsite was on the wrong side of the mountain for cell phone service. John had promised to keep everyone informed of what was happening with the virus. He used his own judgment as to what details to leave out.
It had been a popular topic for discussion throughout the week. As John returned to the campfire, he heard them talking about it once again. The fire had started to die down, and John realized that the circle was smaller. "Where is everyone?" he asked Gillian.
She turned her head to whisper into his ear, "Everyone else when on to bed. They were a little spooked, but I think they'll be fine in the morning."
Other than John and Gillian, four people remained around the fire. Ron, a twenty year old pre-med student, was giving an explanation of the way a virus spreads. The others were listening with rapt attention.
John cut him off, "Hey guys, maybe we could talk about something else for a while? I had some scriptures that I thought we could share."
"What if it is a plague?" said Tiffany, a nineteen year old blonde girl. John didn't know her very well as she was new to the congregation, but she had the hallmarks of a burgeoning intelligence weighed down by fear. "Not just like black plague or scarlet fever, but a legitimate plague from God."
The others murmured as John answered, "Now, Tiffany, we all know that would not be the case. God of the Old Testament was wrathful, but God of the New Testament is merciful. He would not send this sickness into the world."
Valerie, a twenty-four year old close friend of Gillian's, spoke up. "But what about Revelation. The end of the world will see plague and war and death."
Again, the circle started to murmur in agreement. John didn't like to open this realm of conversation. It was too easy to contradict the teachings he had learned, but he looked around the fire and knew that the issue would persist. He asked God for guidance and then spoke, "First of all, people have been predicting the end of the world for two thousand years. It hasn't happened yet, so we don't have any reason to believe that it's happening now. But, yes, Valerie. You're right that Revelation tells us of an end of the world where blood runs from the taps and plagues return to the earth. But if we're going to accept that, then we also have to accept that it happens in a particular order and isn't particularly discreet about it."
"Maybe we are wrong." The words came from Adam. He'd been quiet all week. John assumed he was shy. The young man stared into the fire and did not glance up as everyone turned to look at him.
John furrowed his brow, "I'm sorry. What do you mean?"
Adam continued looking into the fire. "You keep trying to explain everything in the context of God. Or at least a God we can understand. But maybe this isn't something we can explain. Maybe the answer to this situation is not in that book. Maybe this virus thing is a punishment or maybe it's just evolution. I've seen it. Before we left, on youtube, I saw what this stuff does to a person. That isn't God. At best, it's the Devil."
