Chapter 1: People are Hungry!

Day One! October 31, 2018.

Tony, Willa, Brad, and Gloria made up the team that was going to plug the southern tip of Mexico. The 26 others made up two to four-person teams that were going to be spread out to their North. The four targeted the municipal district of Quintana Roo with the municipal seat named José María Chetumal with a population of around 11,000. There were about 2,000 families. A good portion of the Yucatan Peninsula had vanished into the Gulf of Mexico with the Earth’s Changes. The City José María Chetumal is now bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.

It was a little after 9:00 in the morning. This small part of Southern Mexico was in alignment with the US Eastern Time Zone. The majority of Mexico was in the Central Time Zone. It was just after 7:00 AM in Omak, Washington.

“Is this a ghost town?” Gloria asked as they entered the town square. The main road entered the square from the north made a left turn and headed east heading down to the water of the Gulf of Mexico.

“It sure looks like it.” Willa shared. There was no one on the streets, no dogs barking, nothing moving, not even the wind. They did hear a child crying.

“Look, there is a man over there. Let’s go ask him where a Café is?” Brad suggested. The four pulled their rolling cases along behind them. Each case contained 12 cubic feet of space and the hope was the case could become their home away from home. There were seven days of food, guns, clothes, blankets, sleeping cots and Tony and Brad each carried a tent along with each of them had a heavy backpack.

When Tony got near, he said, “Hello.”

The man had been crying. He looked at Tony with anger for invading his space.

“I’m sorry to have disturbed you.” Tony and the others turned away. Just then two White Eagles landed in the big tree not far away. They were mates, and one was screaming for joy because the other had a big snake. It looked like the symbol of Mexico only the Eagles were the US Bald Eagle (White Eagle) and not the Mexican Golden Eagle.

In broken English, “Are you from the United States?” The man asked.

“Si, YES!” Brad said with strength.

“Why are you here?” The man looked at the two eagles in a big nest near the top of the tree eating the snake.

“To help you know God, and to assist you in bringing Paradise to your country,” Gloria said in clear and correct Mexican Spanish.

“My brother before he died told me of a dream. He said there would be a symbol on the day you showed up, but there would be thirty of you.” The man shared.

Tony was still watching the birds, “Is that enough of a symbol?” Tony asked, “Because there are thirty of us spread out all over Mexico. I am called The Big Fisherman by the Native people where we live.”

The man shook as he realized he was looking at his brother’s dream come true. His brother also told him it would be led by the Big Fisherman, “Are you Christians?”

“We follow St. John the Beloved by Jesus. He has returned to be the Comforter and we will teach you what he has taught us.” Willa shared, “You will soon see Jesus and will be able to ask him as heaven descends upon this planet.”

The man went to shake his head again, then he looked up at the two eagles. He had never seen them before, “Why are you, so very young, here to do this?” The man asked.

Tony looked up at the Eagles again, “My friends and I stopped 99 convicts from entering our town. They had 60 M-16’s and other weapons. We had none. Only what we had learned from St. John. We were awarded adult status. We choose to come here.”

“I was mourning the loss of my brother. By default, I am the leader of our town. Call me Poncho. I am the only Poncho in our town. I was going up the mountain to see what is poisoning our water supply. Almost everyone is sick.” Poncho shared.

“This is my wife, Willa, and our best friends, Brad and Gloria. They are also married. I am Tony. Can we come with you?” Tony asked.

“Nice to meet you. Yes, I think it best if you do. I will show you a good place to hide. Sorry I cannot offer you a house to stay in. We have none-available.” Poncho looked at Tony, “How did you get the name Big Fisherman?”

“That’s fine we have tents.” Gloria shared.

“A short time ago, I caught a salmon that weighed as much as I did!”

Poncho looked at the four smiling faces and thought about what he would do with a salmon as big as Tony, “What did you do with a fish that big?”

“We invited our friends over and enjoyed it for dinner. My father likes placing slices of sweet onions and slices of pineapple in and on the fish. It adds just a hint of sweet and tart taste to the salmon as it also adds a bit of moisture as the fish cooks.” Tony smiled.

They climbed a mountain on the Southside of the Village. They were about two hundred feet high and could see the town square and the road to the North along with the new coastline of the Gulf. They went through a locked gate and Poncho turned the lock very quickly. The four were working as each of the cases weighed a hundred pounds or more. The backpacks weighed sixty pounds on the girls and eighty-five pounds on the guys. The lock opened and after they were through the gate, Poncho closed and locked it again. Another hundred feet up, there was a plateau with a pool with a waterfall filling the pool. The plateau was about an acre in size with the pool taking up about 25% of the area.

“This water supplies all of our needs. We use about 30,000 gallons of water per day.” Poncho was looking at the big screens for the intake. He made the cross as he moved his hand from head to stomach then across his chest.

“What is it?” Tony saw the dead animals laying on the screens.

“Looks like rats and maybe a cat.” Poncho shared, “Someone has put them there. Let’s get them out of there.”

Gloria translated for Poncho.

Poncho went to a small building and unlocked it. He pulled out a small fishing net. He also had a device that Tony had seen old people use to pick up things from the ground. By squeezing the handle, the clamps at the other end would close. Poncho handed Tony the fishing net. He pointed to a garbage can with a lid on it. He looked at Brad, “Could you take the lid off and make sure there is a plastic bag.”

“Yes, there is a bag.” Brad was pulling it up and making sure it wrapped around the top of the plastic can.

“Good.” Poncho reached down and pulled up the dead cat to just below the surface. Tony put the net under it and Poncho released it to fall into the net. Tony carefully dropped the dead cat into the garbage sack. When he turned, Poncho had one of the rats just below the water level. One cat and three rats later, the deed was done. Poncho then took out a two-gallon can of chlorine and put it into a cradle. He carefully removed the sack with dead animals from the plastic can. He tied a knot in the opened end of the sack. He removed the lid on the chlorine and with the sack in one hand he picked up the chain, “You do not want to inhale the fumes from the chlorine. It will make the water stink for a day, but our water will be clean again.” Poncho was about twenty feet from the cradle when he pulled the chain and eased the can over, so it would pour out its contents into the pool, “That is done. Come I will show you where to camp. Do you have camping gear besides your tents?” Poncho asked.

The four Northerners all said, “Yes!”

Poncho leads the little group over to some trees, “Do you see the clearing?”

The four Northerners all said, “No!”

“My father built this long ago when I was a small boy. I helped him plant the trees. Follow me.” Poncho directed. The five went through a maze and came out into a clearing that was fifty by eighty feet. The tall trees provided the area in shade, and one could see out very well and watch the pool and waterfall. The only sign of mankind was a primitive-looking rake to help move the pinecones away from a spot big enough for the tents, “Only my family know where this is.”

“My people are starving. The drug lords have converted much of the good land into plants to make the drugs. We still had land we grew crops on. That land disappeared into the gulf when the earth changes took place, and we lost many buildings and many people. My brother was one of them.” Poncho was near tears again.

“Has anybody died from lack of food?” Gloria asked.

“No, but soon. Our baby grows weaker every day along with many other babies.”

“Poncho sit with us. We want to see if we can create some food.” Willa suggested.

Poncho was envisioning a burrito like he would make when he had food.

Tony led everybody in the Lord’s Prayer and Gloria called out “Brown rice.”

A six-gallon bucket appeared. It was a food-grade bucket with a locked lid on top and a nice handle. On the side was a label with cooking directions in both Spanish and English.

“Black beans.”

Another six-gallon bucket showed up.

“Freeze-dried peas, corn, diced tomatoes, shredded beef, and shredded chicken,” Gloria whispered.

Five additional buckets appeared.

“Corn flour.”

Another bucket showed up.

“Two gallons of hot salsa and two gallons of corn oil.”

There they were, eight six-gallon buckets and big two-gallon jugs of hot salsa and corn oil.

“I suggest we help the village eat before we worry about tents.” Willa offered.

“I agree,” Gloria stated.

“Can you make ten buckets of each?” Poncho asked, “My friends and I have grills to cook on.”

“We think so.” Brad offered.

“How many friends with grills?” Tony asked.

“I have twenty-three, so there will be twenty-four cooking.”

“Let’s go.” Brad was used to farm work and picked up the heavy buckets of rice and beans.

When they got to the gate, “The combination spells ‘LOVE’ in English. L is the 12th letter of the alphabet, O is the 15th, V is the 22nd and E is the 5th. The combination is 12, 15, 22, and 5.” Poncho showed Willa, and when she announced: “Got it.” They went through the gate. Tony and Brad looked at the fencing. It was covered with blackberry vines as far as they could see in both directions.

“That should slow somebody down.” Tony shared.

“They would have to want to get in there very bad.” Brad shared.

Brad and Tony picked up their buckets along with Gloria and Poncho making their way through the gate. Willa had one bucket of the meat and the salsa. She locked the gate and continued heading down the hill.

“Poncho is there a lot of snakes around here?” Gloria asked.

Poncho stopped and turned to Gloria to answer, “We have rain two times every year. I have not seen a snake since I was a little boy when a farmer killed it and brought it to town.” Poncho shared, “It was big to a five-year-old. Maybe as long as, I was tall. That snake the white eagles had been five to six feet tall.”

“Then it truly was a sign as your brother said you would see,” Gloria stated, in Spanish.

“Yes, it would seem so.” Poncho turned and continued down the mountain, “My brother also talked of the Big Fisherman and Indian Maiden. He also said some of those that would come would know our language.”

When they got to the park that was next to the town square, Poncho set down his buckets and got the big grill going. He put on a large two-gallon pot of beans and another two-gallon pot of brown rice. He went over to his home and asked his sons, “Please come out and help me!” There was a bit of moaning and complaining. “I have food, we will eat today. We will be okay!” He went inside and carried a five-gallon carboy of water that was just inside the door to the grill and added water to the two pans. It took all his strength and determination to carry it 100 feet. When the boys showed up, “Boys, our friends have given us food. Run the water until you smell chlorine-like we do at year-end and when you get back, I will feed you.” Poncho directed.

“Can we get Mandell and Jose to help?” Diego asked.

“Yes, if they are able and I will feed them too.” Poncho advised, “Jes, get all of your friends to help. This needs to be done quickly. I’ll feed them all.”

“Okay, Papa.” Jess was short for Jesus. He was fifteen, soon to be sixteen, but was stunted by about 6” because he had diabetes since childbirth. It was a wonder he was even still alive. He did have a fastball and an unhittable knuckleball. His changeup usually danced across the plate and was fouled off. Diego the eleven-year-old would follow his brother anywhere and be quickly running after him to help. Jess stopped and told his brother Diego to open the first facet.

Poncho smiled; he was so proud of those two boys. He looked at Tony and Brad and had a thought, “My oldest son has diabetes. He probably won’t live much longer. I would do anything to have him healed.”

“Brad and Tony are good at stopping bullets, Willa and I have been trained to heal many things and diabetes is one of them.” Gloria shared with Poncho in his language.

“My wife is going blind?” Poncho asked with sadness.

“It may be from a lack of nourishment. We need to see her, but we think we can heal her, too.” Willa smiled.

Poncho did not understand everything that was said in English, but he got the message. Poncho looked at the cross on the church, “Thank you God for sending me these beautiful people.” He turned back to his preparations and had three fathers of the boys that were helping Jesus and Diego standing there.

“Poncho, do you have food?” One of the men asked.

‘Yes, we need to do half portions then two hours half portions again, and hopefully, we can do that four times today and six times tomorrow. It has been too long since we have eaten, we need to do this slowly. Get your grills I need help cooking and serving. Get more water too.” Poncho was excited, and the men jumped into action. It had been several weeks since they had killed their last three cows.

The team had their heads together planning for this village. Gloria came over and stood next to Poncho speaking to him in his language, “Did you have chickens? Do you have a chicken pen big enough for a thousand baby chickens?”

“Si and si. We do not have anything to feed them with.” Poncho shared.

“We will start with a thousand pounds of chicken feed.” Gloria shared and turned to Tony and nodded.

“We had forty cows before the earth changes and many hundreds of chickens. They are all gone. With the earth changes, we lost our food supply.” Poncho pointed towards the water and shook his head. He did not mention the twelve or so horses and the many dogs that were also gone. Providing food for the community. So far no one had died from starvation, but it was getting close. The children did not run and play. The babies were too weak to cry. People were angry and did not laugh or smile.

“We may be able to get you, milk cows.” Gloria shared. In the briefing before they came, it was learned that the buffalo needed more land around Omak and cows may be available for the hotter climate as the meat of choice was becoming buffalo.

Poncho hugged Gloria and let out a gasp as he released some fear that he had been carrying since his brother died in the waves.

“You are going to need more food. Let us get to work doing our magic as Jesus did.” Gloria shared.

“Yes, like Jesus...” Poncho shivered as he whispered. Poncho looked at the cross on the church again.

Poncho watched the four sit in a square. They said the Lord’s Prayer and after several minutes off to the side, a stack of 100 six-gallon buckets was full of brown rice appeared. The four looked at their accomplishment and the four stood and did a high five and then sat back down to focus on black beans. This came easier and in half the time there was another stack of twenty-five buckets stacked four high for again a total of one hundred. The peas, corn, tomatoes, shredded chicken, shredded beef, corn flour all came easier and faster. The salsa and corn oil also came quickly. The four were learning. Poncho was standing there along with several hundred people. The parents of the boys working on the water system. They were all in shock.

“Poncho, get them moving!” Tony smiled, “Now, okay! Your people are hungry.” Tony laughed as he saw a few smiles.

Lorenzo’s son was nearby, “Little L, can you run over to the faucet by the church and turn it on until you smell Chlorine? Turn the sign to red then turn off the faucet. Please.” Poncho asked, “You will eat first with Jesus and the water crew.” Poncho saw the eleven-year-old take off at a slow run towards the church. It looked like he was giving it his best effort.

Poncho started laughing, “Okay, NOW!” He turned to the crowd.

“These are our friends from the New US Government.” Poncho started in a loud voice.

“Who are they Poncho?” A voice in the crowd asked.

Poncho looked at Gloria.

Gloria pulled a cross that hung on a chain around her neck for all to see. She spoke in Spanish, “We are children of God the same as you. Let us be known as the Rainbow Warriors. We follow St. John the beloved of Jesus. He has come again to be the comforter of mankind as Jesus promised. On Wednesday after you have your strength back, we will take you to heaven where Jesus is.” Gloria looked around. There were 12 grills set up now and the smell of food was even making Gloria’s stomach rumble, “Senor Poncho has told the boys that have been working on getting chlorine in the water pipes that they can eat when they got done. Come, boys.” Gloria started clapping and everyone clapped and cheered as the boys came forward. She had seen the boys come running up. They felt like they had just won a baseball game. They had turned on a hundred faucets and waited until the smell of chlorine was coming through. The chlorine in the pipes was about 10 to 20 parts per million. Enough to kill the worse bugs. The boys would flush the system in the morning, and all should be fine again. They left each faucet with the red sign, “DO NOT USE, NOT POTABLE!” Tomorrow, they would flush the system and turn the sign over showing the green side with “POTABLE WATER”.

Poncho took a deep breath, “WE have not eaten for a while.”

There was much agreement with what he said.

“Let’s start slowly with a small burrito. Then again in two hours, another burrito, and again in four and six hours. Tomorrow we will eat 6 times starting at 7:00 and on Wednesday we will be back to eating more regular servings. Is that okay?” Poncho looked out for his friends and neighbors.

Everyone was smiling and nodding yes.

A large group of women and children were bringing out little plates. Thousands of them. There were four serving lines, and the women took over serving the food. They were serving about a hundred every five minutes. More grills were set up until there was twenty-four cooking away. Soon a thousand was being served every ten minutes.

“Poncho had told his sons to take Maria, their mother a burrito and introduce Gloria and Willa to her.” Many minutes later when the line in front of Poncho came to an end, he was surprised when Maria was standing in front of him.