The Wall

By Owen Lee Grace

Everything seems perfect in 2065 for high school senior Dorothy Parker. However, reports of a wall being built around the United States surface under safety pretenses to keep in the Texas nationals that formed a coalition for independence from the People's Republic of Earth. Before she knows it, the five-hundred-foot monstrosity is finished. The wall's true purpose becomes clear when hundreds of flesh-eating zombies land in the streets of large cities, infecting most of the population inside the wall in just a few weeks.

Her dreams of running cross-country and living independently at Northwestern are crushed. The safest place known left is surprisingly rumored to be Texas, which had been mostly destroyed by fire bombing just before the wall was in place. She begins her journey from her home city of Rock Haven, North Dakota, with her parents and a scared eight-year-old brother, but she soon finds herself alone after a series of tragic events. Her only friend is her crossbow.

This cold new world of America will bring out the worst in people and the best. She encounters an unlikely friend, a psychotic prison guard, a broken best friend, an unreliable ex-boyfriend, a hidden rebellion, and a strange book. She will have to lose everything before uncovering the path to true, pure joy but also the cold hard truth about life in the North American region and the wicked man behind the wall.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781639033683

Book preview

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The Wall

Owen Lee Grace

ISBN 978-1-63903-367-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63903-368-3 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Owen Lee Grace

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The likelihood of the living dead is just about impossible, though it is interesting to think about as a science fiction lover. It is not possible for the body to survive without the soul, which is what the concept entails. The only one that can let the body live after the soul leaves is God. He could let zombies appear in the tribulation if He wanted to, but I don’t believe He would.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

This novel is dedicated to Jesus, my late friend and mentor, Craig, and my BFF and muse, Dorothy.

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

—1 Peter 1:8–9

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

—1 Corinthians 15:10a

Preface

October 2014: The Birth of Dorothy Parker

In my senior English lit class, we had to write a daily journal. Sometimes it was free writing, but since Halloween was just around the corner, we were assigned to write a short scary story. At first I had no idea what to write. Then I started writing about a ghost. After a half page of writing, I scrapped it and converted it to the point of view of a person. First, I needed a name. I had a best friend named Dorothy, so that became the first name. The last name was more difficult. It had to be simple but easy to remember. Parker came to my mind, the name of my street address.

Dorothy Parker first began as a ghost whisperer in my short story. It ended as a cliff-hanger, as many short stories do, and she learned from her mother that she was a ghost whisperer. I did not see myself as a writer at the time, but soon after, I took writing as a hobby. Living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, writing by hand became more and more difficult as I grew up, so I never did it in my spare time. The last time I had a journal was for fifth-grade English. My class and I wrote short stories and shared them with the group. My story was a parody of Star Wars made up of a few episodes, which changed all aspects of the story into beaver life. I called it the Jedi Beavers. This was my first experience of writing fiction, but it was not until senior year in high school that I began writing outside of the classroom, as I explained earlier. Soon after Dorothy Parker was created, I started putting together another version of her character. This version was a stereotypical teenage super sleuth, then became more complex after that. The story that contained this Dorothy Parker was the discovery of a pirate treasure that she, her friends, and her pet Jack Russell terrier were competing with a con man for. The title in the works was Paper Girl. In November 2014, I shared my ideas with Bailey, a good friend of mine. Her dad produced documentaries, so we planned on writing a script and making a film with our friends with his help. We had a few meetings, and soon I had the script started in a notebook. As we were working on the second version of Dorothy Parker, a third version ran through my mind.

December 2014: Dorothy Parker Version 3

NCIS was on break for Christmas. It was my favorite show, and Cote de Pablo who played Ziva David recently left. I was disappointed when I learned that she left because the writers stopped giving her character a plot that she thought Ziva deserved. From then on, I worked on my own reboot starting from season 11 of NCIS. I wanted to find a way to weave Dorothy Parker into the NCIS series. When I did that, Dorothy Parker became an orphan that helps NCIS stop a terrorist attack by a 9/11 truther. I created a plot map including the four other episodes that I would later write and events in between each episode. Once I finished each episode, I sent them to Bailey, Dorothy, and a few others to read. They enjoyed each one, so I continued writing episodes. The first episode was finished before graduation. Of those that read my episodes, Craig Dudley, my high school aide, was very influential to my writing. He told me to keep going and believed in my potential as a writer. He thought that my writing was about as good as famous writers like Charles Dickens, whom we were reading in English at the time. I was not so sure I was that good, but I thanked him for the compliment. Bailey compared my writing to Spielberg and J. K. Rowling, but I knew I wasn’t there yet. I had been typing the episodes, so the notebook that contained Dorothy Parker version 2 became obsolete. I decided to start over with that version later in my Notes app once I completed my NCIS reboot. The addition of Dorothy Parker to the drama series also included Austin Callahan, Jason McCormick, Jill (McCormick), and Keenan Darkloft. These same characters’ names became the backbone of what I called The Dorothy Parker Series, which I came up with as I was forming other versions of Dorothy Parker. I wrote a few of those plotlines as I continued with my NCIS reboot, which was finished in March of 2016.

April 2015: Dorothy Parker Version 4

I was just finishing the first NCIS reboot episode, Gone Girl, which started as a two-part episode, and eventually it was combined into one to fit the standard hour-long TV slot. Other versions of Dorothy Parker would come into my mind from time to time, but one that stuck with me was set in a zombie apocalypse. I started writing her story in journal entry form and soon had her first journal entry completed. I chose first person point of view through journal entries, because as a beginner author, it seemed the easiest and also a common way to depict a zombie apocalypse. I decided to make 2065 the year it began, thinking that it would give a sufficient time frame for global socialism and a world government to have a foothold. The news was full of the race for 2016, especially the border wall, so it got me thinking, I needed a wall in this story—one that actually is to be afraid of. Due to the painful history of America, I figured that by 2065, the rest of the world would want to rid themselves of what they would call a wretched land, despite how much America did to assimilate with the new world order of global socialism. A ginormous wall would be placed around the US border, and a human-made zombie virus would be introduced, leaving Dorothy Parker trapped in the chaos. That was all that I could come up with at the time. I wasn’t ready to continue the story since I was trying to focus on my classes at Wright State University and write the NCIS reboot, so I left it alone for the most part. Sometimes more of the plot came to mind, but I just kept it in my memory until I finished the NCIS episodes.

March 2016: Building the Wall

My inspiration for the wall that is built in this story is the wall that is built around metropolitan areas in the USA channel’s colony, which depicts an invasion by visitors from deep space. The thickness and height of these walls were frightening, if not horrifying. The aliens had formed secret alliances with members of world leaders and tricked most military members to wait for orders by their governments. Instead of being built piece by piece, the walls were placed as one, coming from the sky at night and crushing the military members of earth. This gave me an idea of what the wall in this book would be, except taller and armed to the teeth. This monstrosity of a wall is a metaphor for the epidemic of hate ravaging this planet. We have lost the principle of disagreeing without demeaning. There are ideologies we must speak out against, but the best way to speak out is through love and in truth. Yelling and screaming will not change a person. Actions speak louder than words, no matter how loud the words are. When we act like Christ and live on the fine line of grace, those with hate in their hearts will see who Christ really is. Jesus has the power to change. It reminds me of the story about famous wrestler Thaddeus Bullard. He had a friend whose grandmother judged him on his skin color. When his friend passed away, he went to see their grandmother. Surprisingly, she apologized to him for the way she treated him. She saw how her grandchild treated Mr. Bullard with love and respect and decided to change and become the Christian that Jesus calls us to be. Thaddeus Bullard forgave her, and they became great friends. That is how the unconditional love of God works. It is contagious. One person’s actions can affect another. Grace inspires grace. If we veer off into legalism or complacency, it will turn people away from Christ. Legalism is defined as the belief that God will love me if I follow the rules, and complacency is defined as I love Jesus, but I’ll do as I please because I’m forgiven. Both are problematic to our faith and can leave us feeling empty. We are all prone to revert to checklists or go with the flow of culture. I myself have veered off into these categories at some point in my life. I have learned that a relationship with God is grace-based, not performance-based, and that our relationships with others must be grace-based as well. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more or less. The division and hate in this country is illustrated by the wall in this book. In addition, the hate toward Christ and God’s people of Israel, and in turn the American principles of freedom and faith, seems to be growing exponentially. It can make us feel trapped, like there’s no way around it. The only thing that can overcome this wall is love and God’s grace. God built us a bridge, and that bridge is Jesus Christ.

It reminds me of the untold story of how Amazing Grace was written. John Newton was a former slave ship captain when he wrote it in 1772. His guilt led him to write these words: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. He became influential in outlawing the slave trade in Britain after writing a pamphlet called Thoughts upon the Slave Trade." This pamphlet was sent to every Member of Parliament, leading to the abolition of slavery in Britain in 1807. Neither he nor any of us deserves God’s grace, yet He sent His only Son to pay the price so that His gift of grace can still be given to us. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace. He has come to us through Jesus Christ, who came to save, not condemn. Those who believe and trust in Christ receive the grace of God and can never be taken away from salvation. When I put my faith in Christ, I became a new person. God’s grace transformed me and put me on the path to the person He wants me to be. He helped me change. Not because I feel obligated to change, but because I love Christ. He has worked in me and continues to work in me. He wants a relationship with us. His love is unconditional and will never cease. His love is not based on what we have done but what He has done for us. This is what I hope this book to show: that God’s grace can save and heal no matter what we have done or what our background is. I do not expect to change people, but I know that Jesus can change people. I bring the good news of the Gospel, and Jesus does the work in the hearts in those that hear the Gospel. The trials these characters face and the trails they follow will reveal how God’s plan can work and that good can always overcome evil. I did my best to make my characters dynamic so that the changes in their lives blossom into Christ’s likeness.

Secondly, I hope to break through stereotypes that are around today in the secular and the Christian community. Most zombie apocalypse shows, movies, and books depicting Christians compromising their faith and becoming radical. This could hypothetically happen during an apocalyptic event, but it could only happen to a few churches, not most of them, as Hollywood makes it. Hollywood for the most part only likes to make the Christians in their films complete hypocrites or hateful, which is an unfair stereotype that has been pushed by them. Another stereotype broken in this book is that LGBT people cannot become Christians. The Bible says all have sinned and that all types of sin are equally wrong. Churches should not exclude anyone. If we exclude a person because of the sin in their past, present, or future life, then we all should be excluded. Christianity is not about morality; it’s about a relationship with Christ and His arms are open to all people. All means all, and that’s all; all means is how I would put it. There are many other stereotypes addressed in this book, but I only have time to share the two I mentioned. No matter how dark this world seems to get, His light, love, and grace will pierce through the darkness. Only grace will win.

Owen Lee Grace

August 13, 2019

Dayton, Ohio, 45402

Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for rescuing me and giving me a new life. I would also like to thank my parents, Beth and Darrin, and grandparents, Bruce and Ellen, for teaching me what it is to follow Christ. I especially want to thank my mom for being a great editor and making sure my writing comes out clear and concise. I want to thank my friend, Dorothy, for inspiring me to create Dorothy Parker and the stories surrounding her character. Thanks to Brooke and Sierra for drafting the book cover and to Bailey for her support and idea suggestions. Last but not least, I’ll give thanks to Fairhaven Church for welcoming me into the community of Christ and helping me grow in my faith.

Prologue

March 15, 2021, Oval Office

M y fellow Americans, the president begins, his face stoic but also filled with urgency, it is with deep regret to inform you that this great nation has been deliberately attacked by our adversaries on the Northern Korean Peninsula. A nuclear projectile detonated above the skyline, and we have lost communication with much of the western seaboard. Homeland Security and the CIA among others have confirmed it originated from the North Korean countryside. We must put aside our differences, and I know they are great, to neutralize this threat and come to the aid of our citizens that have lost power or lost those they love to this horrific, inhumane act. I will make sure our resources are spent taking care of those affected. I urge Congress to…oh, it’s here already. Thank you. That was quick. I’ve never seen Congress work this fast.

He signs the document and continues.

The Senate has sent me the official declaration of war on the People’s Republic of North Korea and will also place us under martial law to allow the great men and women of our military to keep out country from future harm. Our great military stands ready to protect our nation and our people. The American people are strong. We will prevail and persevere with God’s providence and grace. Bless you and God bless America. The feed ends.

Same day, same time, Valdosta, Georgia

Eight-year-old Liam Parker stares agape at the colored bars on the fifty-inch flat screen. The tornado sirens blare outside, beginning martial law. The large National Guard trucks rumble down the street telling residents to stay indoors with megaphones and for military members to report for duty. It’s about 8:45 p.m. with the final inches of the sun lighting the sky with waves of violet.

What happened? he breaks the brooding silence.

Liam, I told you to stay in the basement, his father barks. His mother gently touches her husband’s forearm to relax him. She gets up from the couch and talks to Liam at his level.

Some bad people attacked us, so the president was letting us know what the plan is.

I thought you hated the West Coast. Dad said they should get blown up.

Now, where did you hear that from, son? his father responds.

Liam’s mother puts her palm toward her husband to tell him she’ll figure this out.

You know he didn’t mean that. It was a figure of speech.

That’s not what Mrs. Applegate says, Liam replies indignantly. She says it would be the president’s fault if we went to war and that North Korea would only attack on accident. I don’t understand why you would support that piece-of-shit president. And now Dad’s gonna go back to war and die because of him. He storms back toward the basement.

How the heck did he learn all that? his father speaks alarmingly. I told you we couldn’t trust that school.

I’m smarter than you think, Father, Liam bellows at the top of the basement steps, then makes his way down sobbing.

His father goes down into the basement to comfort his son. He sits against the wall next to Liam.

I know you’re afraid, son, but I have to go to keep you safe.

Are you afraid, Dad?

Of course, but it’s my duty.

Then don’t go. You don’t have to follow orders if they are immoral. War is immoral. We already have rising sea levels to fight and now a nuclear war. I know you. You always risk your life running toward the danger instead of staying safe. I don’t want you to die, Dad, he whimpers.

I’ll come home, I promise. God will take care of us. I love you, son. You know that, right?

Yes, I love you too, Daddy. Liam hugs his father hopefully not for the last time.

April 10, 2025, Caracas, Venezuela

Captain Bradley Parker rests in a shanty on the outskirts of Caracas with his radio and a few of his best soldiers. The sounds from the nearby rainforest echo into the starry night. His unit made huge gains the other day and brought them into the shantytowns just outside Caracas. The only real problems they’ve had are the bugs and the humidity. His unit likes to give him a hard time with his lack of swearing. You ain’t no soldier if you ain’t cussin’, they would joke sometimes. He takes it as a compliment. They don’t have to worry about any sneak attacks. The scout drones are always checking the perimeter, so they can rest for the night. The relaxation gives their minds a break from the horrors of battle. Luckily, they have had few casualties as of now. One of the first lieutenants scampers in panting like a dog.

Captain Parker, we’ve lost connection with the drones. Radio is down too, so I ran down here.

Bradley has time to sit up before the first rocket explodes behind the first lieutenant, tossing him against the aluminum wall. He jumps up and comes to the lieutenant’s side, who looks up at him in disbelief.

Are you hit, Lieutenant? Bradley yells as more rockets rain down.

No, I don’t think so, the lieutenant calls back as he checks for wounds, just banged up.

Captain Bradley tries his radio. Nothing.

Where are these rockets coming from? he inquires as the barrage continues. He peeks around the corner to see the attack mount across the battlefront all the way to the sea. One of his men start running back toward the forest only to get splattered by a direct hit from a rocket.

Hold your positions, boys and girls, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!

The barrage lasts for a few minutes, then it’s quiet. Bradley takes another look around the shanty. A spray of bullets smash into the wall and he moves back in the nick of time. More gunfire sounds across the front.

Get ready, the commies are coming! Not one of them gets through! he screams at the top of his booming voice.

His men and women trade fire with the enemy soldiers that seem to swarm. For thirty minutes they mow down the soldiers advancing on them. Suddenly, bullets from above rain down on them. The communists have taken control of the American drones. His unit is surrounded but continues the fight against the soldiers and their own drones. It’s a last stand by the enemy to push the allies out of Caracas. One of the drones drop a ten-pound minibomb on his position. The blast throws Bradley ten feet into the air, and everything goes dark when he lands. He tries to open his eyes but closes them when the light starts burning his eyes. He tries a few more times until they adjust to the brightness. He looks down his body and sees his thigh wrapped in gauze cloth. His leg ends there. The rest of it either blown off or amputated. At first the pain is dull but gains momentum the longer he stays awake. The memories of the fire fight fill his mind. Is he the only one left in his unit? A nurse walks in.

How’s the pain, sir? he asks him.

My unit. Where’s my unit? Bradley asks subconsciously.

They are taken care of, sir. You’ll be going home with them as soon as we get transport. You’re coming home, Captain.

The nurse salutes as Bradley drifts back to sleep.

May 3, 2026, the White House

End this war! My dad lost his leg because of you! thirteen-year-old Liam yells through the West Lawn fence. His school put together a field trip to learn about how democracy works and can only live through protest and civil disobedience. The war has dragged on for five years. There is no nuclear disaster. Both sides agreed to only use MOABs, but civilian deaths still mount in the millions. Neither China nor the United States is acting under international law, but the United Nations has been in shambles since Russia demolished NYC with their new implosion MOAB. Both sides learn to perfect the art of nonnuclear bombs. So much for saving the planet. The death toll still reaches the expectations of a nuclear apocalypse. It is due to the drones as well, picking people off like animals. Luckily, the United States had the most sophisticated antidrone system, so Liam doesn’t have to worry about them. Other places are completely susceptible, so the United States becomes a sanctuary for civilians from both sides: legal and illegal. His dad lost his leg about a year ago in the battle over Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city. Venezuelan and Cuban troops with the help of Russia and China made land grabs in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America during the first three years of the war. The United States put most of its efforts in fighting China, Russia, Turkey, and Iran. They moved their efforts back to their hemisphere when enemy troops crossed into Mexico. The Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians pushed Cuba and Venezuela back to their original borders and defeated them. There were still three other battlefronts in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. The United States and allies had the momentum until today. Many places were freed from the Chinese, Russians, Turks, and Iranians, but at much cost. The United States did not have the resources to expand the antidrone defense across the Atlantic, so the enemy drones and MOABs are still wreaking havoc among freed nations in the Eastern hemisphere. The war is now at a deadlock. Those opposing the war on both sides are growing exponentially. They want the world to stop the fighting and find a way to prevent any kind of conflict in the future. The United Nations was a failure. Liam knew he had to speak out as soon as his dad came home missing a leg. He blames the