Day of Judgment

Chapter 1 – The Debt

The twilight hours of night in Pasadena, California were never the easiest to sleep through, and the transition from the tranquil surroundings of his childhood home to the boisterous downtown areas of the city was a slow one for Justin Walker. He hadn't slept a wink the night before and thankfully he'd had the day off the following day, when he'd taken a 6 ½ hour nap during the day when he visited Rebecca. Now, as he sat on the futon that had been in Tommy and Julia's garage for three years, he flipped through the channels on TV as the seconds of the night slowly passed. He occasionally glanced around at his new apartment, and it just made him miss home even more. The walls were bone white, Gray tiles lined the floor, some of them chipped and cracked. The bathroom needed a new shower head and a new light, and the bedroom was a mess considering he hadn't been to the Laundromat for almost an entire week. It made him feel hopeless at times, but every time he coaxed himself out of that fear by remembering his sister's words; "If there's anybody who knows how to be brave, it's you."

That helped settle his nerves, but not by very much. He couldn't tell anybody what the real problem was, not his Mom, siblings, even Rebecca. He couldn't put them in danger. He knew something was coming, but he just didn't know what it was. He did know, however, where it was coming from. As he turned on ESPN and watched a replay between the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, he slowly began falling asleep.

Eighteen Months Earlier

27 Miles Southwest of Baghdad, Iraq

The Infantry had been among those stationed in a high-conflict area where there was said to be some violence going on. There had been two bombings in the past week that had killed 37 people, including four children. The unit's transports came to a thundering halt at the village square. Justin looked at the people's faces. He saw what was typical all over Iraq. Some people were glad to see them putting an end to the fighting, while others simply glared back at him in such a way that he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

There was evidence of violence throughout the village. Broken glass lied at the foot of smashed in windows, and splintered wood was scattered about from what had once been fences and doors. The hardest hit in the village was a small Shiite temple, as most of the village was Shiite. He remembered seeing men and women trying to salvage things out of there. A woman was standing at the center of the open ruin, sobbing as she held what looked like a yellow and tan knit afghan.

His memories jumped next to the gunfire. Five men in a red jeep blazed into the town towards the already ruined temple, while about ten others ran through the town, firing into houses and through windows. Many of the men in the village, alongside Justin's unit, took up arms to ward off the invaders. At one moment, he saw a young girl, about Paige's age, crying out for help as the jeep began storming right towards her. He heard the engine revving up and saw it gaining speed. Out of instinct, he broke into a dash towards the girl. Fifteen feet away, twelve feet, ten, seven, four, two, the jeep was less than a few feet away, he heard the girl scream, and he quickly scooped her off the ground and dove out of the jeep's path and landed on the ground. As he shielded her with his arms, he reached for his gun, which had landed a few feet away, and joined in at the others shooting at the jeep. He watched as two of the men fell from the jeep, dead. Two more jumped just before the startled driver crashed the jeep into a stone wall near the edge of the village. The driver jumped from the burning jeep. Justin didn't see him though. He turned down to help the little girl up to her feet, and as he did, he felt somebody grab the back of his uniform and tear him off the girl and the next thing he knew, he was pinned on his back by a tall man with a frizzed beard. The man's eyes were wide and he was grinding his yellow teeth in anger, but he did hold steady the dagger against Justin's throat. He said one thing in anger, in almost perfect English,

"You have dishonored my brother's name, and I shall restore his honor with your blood!"

Justin felt his body freeze for a split second. His breath froze, his heart skipped a beat, and he snapped his eyes shut. Before he drew in what he honestly thought would be his last breath, a tall girl with dark hair kicked the man off of him with a tremendous force and four Iraqi men tackled his assailant before dragging him away. He turned and saw them drag him towards a large stone building, and as Justin stood up, he heard that same man shout "In the name of Allah, I will have his blood!".

"You're fine, Walker." One of his comrades told him as they returned to their transport vehicle. The men had either all been killed or escaped, except for Rabu Al Wasli, the man who'd almost taken his life. He'd learned his name from the court hearings in Baghdad four days later. He'd also learned that the girl he'd apparently saved was nine year old Jadia, an orphan from that village. At that hearing, he'd been confronted by Jadia's Grandmother, whom in her gratitude gave him a small stone cross with a blue jewel on it. It wasn't that big and was barely the size of his thumb, so he attached it to a leather strand and tied it around his wrist. The last thing he remembered hearing from Rabu was "A Black Feather will mark the signal for your day of Judgment."

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Justin snapped out of his dream when the alarm on his makeshift night stand. His shirt was stained with sweat and he felt as if he'd spent the night in the middle of the Mojave Desert. He wanted it all to be a dream, but he knew that it wasn't because of the cross still tied to his wrist from Jadia's Grandmother. He also knew it wasn't a dream because of the long black feather he'd found stuck to the windshield of his jeep. Around the tip of the feather was a red string holding four beads made of stones from a desert he never wished to see again.

To Be Continued……

(Copyright: The Characters from Brothers and Sisters are the property of ABC. I don't own them.

If I get any facts messed up, let me know so I can change them. )