Arrived (32 page)

Crowds surged around Tsion and Buck. Soon thousands wept aloud and fell to their knees, asking God's forgiveness.

Tsion continued his message, telling the throng that the armies gathered nearby would face another terror from God, a mighty earthquake. He said hail weighing as much as one hundred pounds would fall to the earth, crushing people.

“Do you know what will happen here, right here in Jerusalem?” Tsion said. “It will be the only city in the world spared the devastating destruction of the greatest earthquake ever known to man. The Bible says, ‘Now the great city'—that's Jerusalem—‘was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.'

“That, my brothers, is good news. Jerusalem will be made more beautiful, more efficient. It will be prepared for its role as the new capital in Messiah's thousand-year kingdom.”

Lionel wrote a quick report to the rest of the Young Trib Force and hoped they would see it. There was so much activity in the tech center that Lionel had to put on headphones to hear the latest from GCNN. With a click of a button, he viewed a camera mounted at the top of Petra. Below the edges of the rock walls, platoons of soldiers prepared their weapons. He clicked on GCNN, which showed an aerial picture of Nicolae's army, and shook his head.
A few thousand soldiers against that?

His phone rang and he was surprised to hear Steffi on the other end. Her voice trembled with fear. “We've been watching the coverage about the battle. I'm afraid we've waited too long to get out of here.”

Lionel explained what he knew about the rescue effort and told Steffi that Mac McCullum would fly there. “Where are you now?”

“Outside of our hiding place on the—” Steffi stopped, then gasped.

“What is it?” Lionel said.

“Something so bright that the darkness is gone!” she said. “It's big. Very big.”

Before Lionel could ask another question, a piercing male voice sounded through the phone. “ ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! …' ”

Lionel raised a fist in the air. “Steffi, that's the angel! I'll go tell Mr. McCullum. He'll come get you!”

But before Lionel could hang up, another voice said, “‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.' ”

As soon as Lionel hung up, he raced to find Mac. He finally found him at his airplane, firing up the engines.

Mac had heard the report from someone else and was on his way to New Babylon. “Got room for one more, if you'd like to come along,” he said.

Lionel climbed on board while Mac called for another plane to help evacuate believers. “With these two planes, I figure we should be able to bring up to two hundred people out of there. I hope that's enough.”

They landed near the palace and Lionel gasped. People who had been living in darkness wandered about the runway, limping and staggering, not knowing what to do.

As soon as the plane stopped, Lionel helped Mac get the stairs down. More than 150 believers cheered outside. The other plane landed and took half of the believers who carried their belongings in sacks and boxes. Loading took only a few minutes, and they were ready to go.

Lionel looked at the faces of people as they boarded, wondering which one was Judd's friend Zvi. Lionel saw a blonde young lady with an older woman and approached her. “Steffi?”

“Lionel?”

The two hugged, and Steffi introduced Lionel to her mom.

“No time for chitchat,” Mac said. “Let's get out of here.”

Soon the planes raced down the runways. Before the wheels of Mac's plane were off the ground, Lionel noticed a volley of missiles being launched from just outside the city. As the planes rose higher, black smoke engulfed the once gleaming city. Mac circled as missile after missile hit the heart of New Babylon, destroying the entire city in less than one hour.

As darkness fell, Judd and Vicki broke away from Tsion's preaching and scurried underground. The news of Babylon's fall had reached them through Tsion's Web site. Believers in the underground passage were excited about Judd and Vicki's news that thousands of Jews were turning to Christ, but unbelievers scoffed.

“If Babylon has fallen,” Vicki said, “that means there are only two prophetic events left.”

“The seventh Bowl Judgment and the Glorious Appearing,” Judd said.

Vicki nodded. “And if that's true, should we stay here and feed ammo to a losing cause or try to convince as many people as possible that they need Christ?”

“I don't want to let the resistance down, but a lot of people are hungry for the message. After all, once these people die, we won't have another chance.”

Judd thought about Vicki's idea while he found something for them to eat. A supply area had pita bread and peanut butter, but that was about it.

When he returned, Vicki was talking with a female Jewish rebel without Carpathia's mark.
Reaching more people is what this is all about
, Judd thought.

When she finished with the woman—who did not pray—Vicki seemed even more animated. “There are so many like her all around us. If we can get to them tonight before—”

A noise interrupted her. Several rebel leaders rushed into the tunnel. Walls vibrated, and lights clinked against ancient stone walls. At first Judd thought it was an earthquake. Then he realized the truth.

It was the rumble of Carpathia's army.

32

VICKI
held tightly to Judd as the Global Community's Unity Army rumbled through the streets of Jerusalem.

She hoped they were simply putting their tanks and soldiers into place, but Carpathia's army could attack at any moment.

Vicki had felt a sense of adventure coming to the Old City. Jamal and Lina, Judd's friends from a previous trip to Israel, had taken them in. They had also met an old man named Shivte and his wife. These rebels were trying to hold off the GC army—something Vicki believed was part of biblical prophecy.

But the closer the GC army came and the more the walls of the underground tunnel shook, the less excited she became about being here. They could have stayed in Petra. Instead, they were in the crosshairs of the GC.

Vicki reminded herself that Jesus would soon be back to wipe out this army. And she and Judd had been overwhelmed when thousands had become believers earlier near the Temple Mount. Rabbi Tsion Ben-Judah had given the message of Jesus. Still, the thundering army sent a shiver through her.

Judd scurried to talk with one of their leaders and came back a few minutes later. “He thinks we won't see action until morning. He wants us to get some rest. Let's head back to Jamal's place.”

They took a tunnel heading east, passing rebels armed with Uzis and hand grenades. Vicki had become as familiar with these tunnels over the past few months as she had with their hideout in Wisconsin. Secret passageways snaked underneath streets and buildings. Lights clanked on the stone walls as GC tanks and transport trucks rolled overhead.

A few believers spoke with rebels about Jesus when they passed, trying to convince them of the truth, but many fighters didn't want to hear about the gospel.

“We don't want your blasphemy!” one rebel yelled at a believer. “Stay away from us!”

Judd peeked through the tunnel opening and motioned Vicki forward.

By the time they made it safely to Jamal's apartment, darkness had fallen. Neither Jamal nor Lina was home. While Judd checked the computer for the latest troop movement news, Vicki pulled the curtain back on the window. “You don't have to check the computer—look out the window,” she said.

They were high enough to see outside the walls of the Old City. Tanks and large vehicles were in place. Streetlights cast eerie shadows on the monstrous army.

“Our people are going up against
that?”
Judd said.

“It's not just our people—God's fighting against the army,” Vicki said.

“What does Tsion say about Jerusalem? Doesn't the Bible predict it's going to fall?”

Vicki nodded and closed the curtain. “Chang said in his last e-mail that Tsion was coming here to help bring his fellow Jews into the kingdom before it was too late. Tsion believes the Unity Army will capture many rebels and conquer Jerusalem.”

“Are you scared?”

Vicki hugged Judd. “I keep remembering what you said about sticking together no matter what. And if we're attacked by the GC, at least we'll die together.”

“I'd rather be alive to see Jesus when he comes back, but you're right. From here on out, we stick close.”

Lionel Washington sat on his bed in Petra, scanning the list of names in his prayer diary. Many of them were highlighted in yellow and had the word
home
written after their name. Ryan Daley. Pete Davidson. Mark Eisman. Chloe Williams.
It won't be long until I see all of these people
, he thought.

He wasn't as sure about his other friends on the list. Rayford Steele. Buck Williams. Tsion Ben-Judah. Lionel knew from Chang Wong that Buck and Tsion were in Jerusalem. And Rayford Steele had returned to Petra in a chopper and was probably spending time with his grandson, Kenny. But what would happen in the morning? Would Jesus come back before the GC attacked? Already the Unity Army had Petra surrounded.

What if Tsion is wrong about Petra? What if Jerusalem stands and Petra falls?

Lionel pushed the questions from his mind and prayed over each name. It had been more than seven years since the disappearances and the moment he had finally cried out to God. He had come far in those seven years, and now he was near the end.

Lionel didn't know the exact time of Jesus' return, but surely it would happen in the next day or two. What that moment would be like was anyone's guess, and Lionel couldn't wait.

Zeke called him on the radio. The burly man had asked Lionel to be part of a team that gathered weapons, ammunition, and even uniforms from fallen GC troops. “I'm out here taking a look at the edge of the camp. You should see this.”

“When do you want me down there?” Lionel said.

“Before daybreak, unless the attack comes earlier, which I don't think will happen. Get a little sleep. Then head out.”

Lionel had felt left out of some of the best assignments since coming to Petra and was glad Zeke had included him in this one. Now that he was close to actually going to the front line, Lionel felt unsure. Would God protect them?

He lay back on his bed and tried to fall asleep by thinking of all the people he had met in the past seven years. Carl Meninger came to mind. What a great story he had—becoming a believer while working for the Global Community. Carl was now a vital part of the Tribulation Force in South Carolina and had seen hundreds of people believe the truth about God since Lionel and Judd had last seen him.

Lionel recalled others. Conrad Graham and Darrion Stahley, who were in Illinois, awaiting the return of Jesus with a group of inner-city believers. The stories they sent via e-mail were exciting and a little scary.