Hunted (49 page)
Westin wrote from his plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
I couldn't be happier for you. Actually, I might be able to give you a pretty good present. Let me know when you two are planning the ceremony.
“What could he be talking about?” Vicki said.
Judd shrugged. “Knowing Westin, it could be anything.”
The next day Dr. Ben-Judah wrote and congratulated Judd and Vicki.
I would be proud to unite the two of you if we can work out the technical details. In the meantime, you should both seek the Lord in prayer as to where you should live. It may be that he wants you to stay in Wisconsin with your friends. We could also use a young married couple here in Petra. Consider this and let me know when you would like to arrange the ceremony.
Vicki's mouth opened wide. “I've heard so much about Petra, but I can't imagine actually living there.”
“It would be a great place to start a new life,” Judd said. “But what about our friends?”
“It'd be hard to leave, but if we're together, I could call anywhere home.”
Two weeks later, just after a counseling session with Marshall, Mark held up the phone in the main cabin. “It's Westin. I think you'll want to take this.”
Judd heard plane noise as he answered the phone. “New plan,” Westin said. “And you should know I've cleared this with the Trib Force.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Remember my surprise to you and Vicki? Well, I heard about Dr. Ben-Judah's offer to have you come to Petra. I have an important run next week to some believers near New Babylon, and I'd like you to come with me.”
“Just me?” Judd said.
“Last trip as a bachelor,” Westin said. “You help me with the New Babylon drop, and then we go to Petra so you can build your honeymoon cottage.”
“I've seen the homes there, and there's not much to them.”
“Still, you could get things ready for Vicki. Then she'd come on my next trip back.”
Judd looked at Vicki and smiled. “What about my best man? He's here in Wisconsin.”
“I can bring him with Vicki and anybody else who might want to relocate to the safest place on earth.”
Vicki hugged Judd tightly and looked into his eyes. “The next time I see you, I'll be walking down the aisleâor the rocks or whatever they call it in Petra.”
“I don't think I can find a tux,” Judd said, “I hope you won't be too disappointed.”
“Something about this plan scares me,” Vicki said.
“We've waited this long. Another week's not a big deal.”
“Just be careful.”
Judd met Westin in Hudson, Wisconsin, and was amazed at the amount of supplies packed onto the plane. Westin said the believers near New Babylon were a little mysterious, not having much contact with the outside world, but they were prepared to ride out their remaining days right under the noses of the Global Community. The contact they had made with Westin wasn't through the Tribulation Force but from a man named Otto, who had moved to New Babylon from Germany.
“That's about all I know,” Westin said, “other than they've been fighting the GC every chance they get.”
“You mean fighting, as in guns?” Judd said.
“Hey, the last battle is coming, and you need to get ready. Armageddon. I'm not going to miss it.”
“I thought Armageddon was where God smashed the armies of the Antichrist.”
“It is, but God's used his followers up to now, so why wouldn't he use us in battle? You should hear Dr. Ben-Judah preach about it. He's really stirred me up to think I can be part of it.”
Judd settled in for the long flight and sent Vicki an email.
When the disappearances happened, it was scary and really sad. But part of it was exciting because we were on our own, without parents telling us what to do. But like Marshall told us in one of our sessions, everything we do from now on will be done together!
The plane touched down near Petra, and Judd spent a day meeting old friends and scouting a place to build a small shelter. Sam Goldberg showed him several sites, and Mr. Stein said there would be plenty of help and materials.
“We don't have all the modern conveniences,” Mr. Stein said, “but we have fresh food provided by God every day and wonderful teaching, not to mention fresh water.”
After visiting the communications center and greeting Naomi Tiberius, Judd rested for the trip the next day to New Babylon.
Vicki watched the news coverage about changes in the past two days and felt concerned about Judd. The blood had turned back to water in streams, signaling the end of the third Bowl Judgment. An urgent message from Chang Wong came not long after.
In my monitoring of Carpathia over the last few days, I believe we have reached a turning point. He is still occupied with the “Jewish problem,” as he calls it. Just when Carpathia and Akbar thought they had devised a plan to kill Jewish believers in Jerusalem, the sun plague hit and the GC were sent underground. In fact, the number of Global Community forces who have died is staggering. But they still have a lot of firepower available.
Of particular interest to me was a phone call I recorded between the potentate and his security chief, Suhail Akbar. I send this transcript not to scare but to warn you of the seriousness of the threat.
Carpathia: Suhail, these plagues have always had their seasons. This one has to end sometime. And when it does, that may be the time for us to pull out the half of our munitions and equipment that we have in reserve. Would you estimate that the confidentiality level on that stockpile remains secure?
Akbar: To the best of my knowledge, Excellency.
Carpathia: When the sun curse lifts, Director, when you can stand being out in the light of day again, let us be ready to mount the most massive offensive in the history of mankind. I have not yet conceded even Petra, but I want the Jews wherever they are. I want them from Israel, particularly Jerusalem. And I will not be distracted or dissuaded by our whining friends in northern Africa. Suhail, if you have ever wanted to please me, ever wanted to impress me, ever wanted to make yourself indispensable to me, give yourself to this task. The planning, the strategy, the use of resources should make every other war strategist in history hang his head in shame. I want you to knock me out, Suhail, and I am telling you that resourcesâmonetary and militaryâare limitless.
Akbar: Thank you, sir. I won't let you down. Carpathia: Did you get that, Suhail? Lim-it-less.
After Judd's plane touched down in a remote area outside of New Babylon, he met with one of the leaders of the mysterious group, Rainer Kurtzmann, a former stage actor from Germany who had become a believer not long after the disappearances.
After Judd and the others loaded supplies into several of the group's vehicles and headed for Carpathia's city, Rainer took another route to give Judd and Westin a tour. The effects of the sun plague had left the city in ruins. Lavish parks with fountains and flowers were reduced to ashes. Judd noticed Rainer was wearing a gun, and Judd asked him why.
“We came from Germany, where fighting the GC was getting boring. One of the leaders of a nearby group, Otto Weser, convinced us from Scripture that there would be believers in New Babylon during this time. So we came, and we have survived.”
“I can't imagine living here without the mark of Carpathia, right under his nose,” Judd said.
“I couldn't either. Some said we would be killed before we ever found a place to stay, but here we are, moving supplies into our underground hideout.”
“Have you lost any members?”
Rainer gave Judd a pained look. “Yes, but I'd rather not talk about that now.”
Judd nodded.
Back at the safe house, Judd and the others enjoyed a meal together. Everyone wanted to hear about Judd's experience in New Babylon, and he described his adventures, though he kept the information about Chang Wong private.
The conversation was so interesting that Judd and Westin stayed past their deadline to get back to Petra before dark, so the group made room for them. As the sun went down, Judd watched the group go through their complex routine of securing the hideout. A few days after the sun plague began, the group had burned the top of their house to make it look like the others surrounding it.
Judd found it difficult to sleep in the enclosed hideaway. It was so different than the camp in Wisconsin, where they felt safe at all hours. A team kept watch over video screens throughout the night, looking for any irregular GC movement.
When morning came, Judd headed outside to watch the sunrise but was stopped by a female member of the group. “We aren't allowed out until the sun is fully up. I'm sorry.”
Judd went to the breakfast area, where he wouldn't disturb anyone, and dialed Chang Wong.
Chang was out of breath when he answered the private line. “Judd, I hope you're calling from Petra.”
“Actually, I'm not. Why?”
“Show's over.”
“What?”
“Though I've been immune to the sun plague, I've still felt the difference in temperature and humidity. A few minutes ago I woke up, and the air feels different.” Judd heard Chang clicking at his computer. “Yeah, I'm right. The temperature here is normal.”
Judd's heart sank. “Maybe when the sun gets higherâ”
“No, usually at this time of the morning things have begun to burn.”
Judd tried to hold back his emotion. He had tried so hard to get back to Vicki, and now he was a million miles from her in the most hostile location on the planet.
“Where are you?” Chang said.
“You're not going to believe it,” Judd said.
Jerry B. Jenkins
(
www.jerryjenkins.com
) is the writer of the Left Behind series. He owns the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, (
www.ChristianWritersGuild.com
), an organization dedicated to mentoring aspiring authors, as well as Jenkins Entertainment, a filmmaking company (
www.Jenkins-Entertainment.com
). Former vice president of publishing for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, he also served many years as editor of
Moody
magazine and is now Moody's writer-at-large.
