Arrived (39 page)

Lionel went home and closed the door. He had been so excited about the return of Christ, but the oncoming army sent shivers down his spine every time he looked at the desert. The sun had dipped below the horizon now, and a full moon peeked out from behind the increasing clouds.

A roar rose outside and Lionel's heart fell. Had he missed the return of Jesus? No, there would be signs in the heavens—maybe that's what the clouds were!

He hurried outside to see tens of thousands gathering their evening meal applaud people riding on ATVs. Rayford Steele was being carried by someone from the Tribulation Force. Lionel had heard earlier that Rayford had been injured or possibly killed in an accident. People waved and screamed encouragement as the former pilot for Nicolae Carpathia passed.

Lionel joined several people who had gathered to pray. The Unity Army was less than a football field away from Zeke and the others at the front lines.
The battle has already been won
, Lionel thought.
God said he was going to take care of these people and either I'm going to believe it or not!

Lionel rushed toward Rayford Steele's home. He had to talk with someone he knew. As he approached, he heard voices inside and recognized Chaim Rosenzweig's. Lionel was about to knock when a cell phone chirped.

“Yeah, Sebastian, it's Ray. … I'm okay, a little banged up, but okay. What's the latest on Buck? … No, go ahead and tell me. …” There was a long pause. “Does Mac know how it happened?” Another pause. “Okay, thanks for letting me know.”

“Is it Buck?” Chaim said, his voice shaky.

“Yeah. Mac found his body in Jerusalem. He was torn up pretty bad.”

“I cannot believe Buck and Tsion are both dead,” Chaim said.

Lionel staggered away from the door.
Both dead?
He sprinted down the hillside to find Sam, praying for Judd and Vicki as he ran.

38

VICKI
huddled close to Judd in the back of the truck as they entered a gate at the Old City. Bodies lay strewn about the road, and the truck shimmied as it rolled over dead rebels. The rebels' clothes lay torn and in some cases ripped apart, which made Vicki wonder if the GC hadn't gone through their clothing for valuables. She closed her eyes at the horrific scene.

“Vicki, you can't do this,” Judd whispered. “I won't let you.”

“Trust me,” she said. “I won't give them anything.”

“Then what are we doing?”

Vicki glanced up. The canvas canopy over the truck had been pulled back, and they could see the sky. Clouds parted, showing the full moon. “I'll think of something.”

The truck ground to a halt, its brakes squealing. Vicki's leg ached with a pain she had never experienced. Judd's leg was nearly useless. She doubted he could walk.

“Out!” Commander Fulcire shouted.

A soldier on the ground helped Vicki down, but he pushed Judd off so he landed hard, crying out in pain.

“I swear if you hurt him any more, I'll tell you nothing!” Vicki yelled.

Fulcire seized Judd by an arm and pulled him up. “He's okay. Just a couple of scratches, eh, young man? Now show us an entrance, and no warning your compatriots that we're coming.”

Vicki walked slowly away from the truck, looking at buildings and street signs.

“Stop here,” Fulcire said. He walked around Judd and faced Vicki. “We know there are tunnels—show us or we add you to the dead.”

Judd nudged Vicki and pointed up. A light shot across the night sky in front of the moon. Vicki gasped and Fulcire looked up as well.

“Guards, take him!” Fulcire said.

But as soon as they moved toward Judd, the moon went black. The streets disappeared under a dark blanket. Several soldiers screamed.

“It's just like in New Babylon,” one said. “It's another plague! And you know what happened to that city!”

“Shut up!” Fulcire ordered. “Try the truck lights.”

“Come on,” Vicki whispered to Judd. “Let's get out of here.”

But before they could move, the lights on the truck blazed, lighting up the street. The soldiers sighed with relief.

Fulcire radioed someone and received a report from Teddy Kollek Stadium that their lights were all working and there was nothing to worry about. He turned to Judd and Vicki.

“Do you see that, Commander?” Vicki said, pointing at the sky. “That's part of the prophecy. God said the sun and moon will be dark on this day. He's going to punish the world for its evil. This is happening around the world, and you'd better get ready for the next thing he's going to do.”

Scores of verses from the Old and New Testaments flooded Vicki's mind. All spoke of the wrath of God poured out on the earth. She wanted to spill the verses out one after another.

The commander smirked. “The moon goes behind a cloud and she claims it's a miracle of God.”

Soldiers laughed, but not very hard, Vicki thought. They had seen enough in the last few years to make them wary.

“We've heard your prophecies of gloom and doom,” Fulcire snapped. “Show us the entrance to—”

“You may have heard enough, but obviously you haven't seen enough,” Vicki shot back. Her words appeared to stun him.

“Babylon the great has fallen, just like God said it would,” she continued. “And soon you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. He'll be on a white horse, and he will make war with you and will overcome you and your armies.”

“Yes, Jesus will show up by and by, pie in the sky, and then we'll all die,” Fulcire mocked. “But you won't be around to see him, will you, Judah-ite?” He pulled a pistol from a holster around his waist and aimed it at Judd's head. “Now point the way to one of the tunnels, or I'll send your precious husband to be with Jesus where he can ride all the white horsies.”

Vicki looked at Judd, his face lit by the truck's lights. It struck her as strange that it would end this way. They had survived seven years of disasters, only to be killed a few hours—maybe a few minutes—before the return of Christ.

“I love you,” Judd whispered. There didn't seem to be a hint of fear in his voice. “I'll always love you.”

“Your choice,” Fulcire said, cocking the pistol.

Conrad had jumped to his feet and cried out with the others when the early afternoon sun disappeared from the sky in Palos Hills, Illinois. The temperature dropped, and the world turned pitch dark.

But it was the roaring, whistling sound that spooked everyone the most. It sounded like a jet coming in for a landing, engines screaming. Conrad looked up and saw a fiery trail behind something—maybe a spaceship, airplane, or falling star. He didn't know what it was, but he wasn't about to stay and find out. He grabbed Shelly's hand, and they ran for cover.

“Don't be afraid!” Enoch yelled. “This was prophesied. It's all part of God's plan.”

The object crashed on the other side of the mall, and everyone rushed to it. Streetlights popped on as Conrad and Shelly ran, hand in hand. They found a ten-foot-wide hole in the road, smoke billowing, and heat so intense they couldn't get close.

Tom and Josey Fogarty darted across the street, heading for safety with their little boy, Ryan.

“Here comes another one!” Ty Spivey shouted.

The falling object roared overhead. Flames licked at its edges as it plunged to earth, and people screamed. Conrad took Shelly's hand again, and they bolted toward the Fogartys.

“You can come to our house,” Shelly said to Conrad.

“I believe we're protected!” Enoch yelled behind them. “None of the judgments from heaven harmed God's people! We bear his mark, his seal! He will protect us!”

But Conrad and Shelly continued to run, with the screaming meteor falling. When a terrific explosion lit the darkness, Conrad looked back. This meteor—at least twice as big as the first—slammed into one of the large stores at the mall.

“Wonder how the GC is going to spin this,” Shelly said.

“They'll probably tell everybody they shouldn't be afraid,” Conrad said. “After all, it's just the sky falling on them.”

Lionel reached the defense perimeter of Petra as the moon darkened and GC troops lit flashlights and high-tech lanterns. When the first streaks of light crossed the sky, the Petra rebels
ooh
ed and
aah
ed. Then the first meteor fell several hundred yards from Lionel's position, and the Unity Army panicked. Horses reared and soldiers screamed orders.

The next meteor slammed into a mass of tanks and transport vehicles, causing a huge explosion. Soldiers flew into the air. The front lines of the army withdrew—how far Lionel couldn't tell.

Rocks nearby shook with the crashing of each meteor. While the Unity Army was struck again and again, Petra remained safe.

Someone turned on large searchlights near the camp and pointed them straight up. The light allowed Lionel to see the edges of the Unity Army and the clouds above that bubbled and churned like boiling macaroni. There was a flash in the distance. Then came a low rumble.

Something big was happening. Lionel felt chills. He wondered if Judd and Vicki were seeing the same thing. Or if Judd and Vicki were even alive.

Vicki covered her eyes as Commander Fulcire leveled the pistol at Judd. She heard a whooshing sound, and something approached overhead. Several men yelled and Vicki looked again, surprised to see Commander Fulcire with his gun at his side, staring into the darkened sky.

“Incoming!” someone shouted from the truck.

The soldiers hit the dirt before a fiery sphere hurtled to earth. The impact shook the ground, and Judd nearly fell down from the shock.

Radios blared, soldiers ran, and everyone seemed confused.

“What's going on?” Judd whispered.

“God's show is starting,” Vicki said.

Fulcire motioned to a nearby soldier. “Get these two back in the truck!”

The soldier hustled Judd and Vicki to the back of the vehicle and told them to climb inside. Vicki tried to help Judd, but he had trouble lifting his injured leg. Judd grasped a handle on the side and tried to pull himself up, but before he could, another meteor flew overhead and the soldier hit the ground. In the confusion, darkness, and roar of the explosion, Vicki grabbed Judd's hand and pulled him to the side of the truck, out of sight. The soldier whimpered on the ground.

“Get down and crawl under,” Vicki said. “They might not see us.”

They scrambled underneath and watched soldiers rush for safety. But where could they go? The meteors looked like they were as big as cars, so the craters they left behind had to be huge.

“Did you know this was coming?” Judd whispered.

Vicki nodded and inched closer to the edge of the truck so she could see the sky. “In Isaiah, I think. There's also supposed to be a sign in the heavens.”

“What kind of sign?”

“I don't know what form it will take, but that's supposed to happen before Jesus comes back.”

“Maybe the clouds are the sign.”