Tori sensed when the sixth bowl was poured, and they all knew that the Euphrates had dried up and the Antichrist was assembling an army from the kings of the east and from each world leader, drawing them to the Battle of Armageddon in order to fight the King of Kings.
Which meant only one thing. Jesus would soon return to take them home!
???
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Revelation 6:12-17
“It’s starting!” Tori shouted, her voice echoing through the cave.
The dear saints—all the precious people she’d come to love—stared at her with exhausted looks.
“What is it?” Nyla hoisted three-year-old Daniel into her arms.
“Don’t you feel it?” Tori gestured for everyone to follow her.
The ground shook beneath them, gently at first, but soon it began to shift and slide violently.
“Outside, everyone!” Thomas yelled.
Chunks of rock loosened from the walls and ceilings and fell upon them as the saints scrambled to leave the cave they’d lived in for so long.
Once outside, Thomas and Tori counted everyone to make sure they had all made it just as a deep voice boomed above them in the sky.
“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
Everyone looked up with wonder.
“What is it?” Brianna asked, one hand gripping Callie’s and the other one Carla’s.
“It’s the final trumpets and seals!” Nyla shouted over a loud clap of thunder.
Lightning flashed, coating the remaining trees in metallic silver.
“Get ready, everyone!” Tori shouted, gripping Thomas's hand in hers. “We are about to leave this place!”
She could hardly believe it. Her heart nearly crashed through her chest. Could this really be the moment they’d get out of here and see Jesus, see their loved ones? Could this nightmare finally be over?
She and Thomas had done their best to keep the saints alive and encouraged. And they’d not lost any except one young woman who went in search of her husband. They’d begged her not to go, but she wouldn’t listen. Though her husband was lost and had taken the mark, she missed him. She never returned.
A stomping sound penetrated the forest. Hail began to fall. Small at first, then larger and larger, leaving imprints in the dirt that spit clouds of dust.
They had nowhere to run!
“Lord, protect us!” Tori shouted over the noise.
Angels materialized and formed a circle around the group, covering them with their mighty hands and forming a solid shelter above them.
