Into the Storm (2 page)

Several times Vicki looked up from the page to keep from crying. She spotted Buck and Chloe Williams behind her near Rayford Steele’s wife, Amanda. Rayford would be on the platform soon, talking about Bruce. If there was anyone who could give a tribute to Bruce and speak the message Bruce would want these people to hear, it was Rayford.

Loretta entered and sat near the back. It took Vicki a second look to realize she was with Rabbi Ben-Judah.

The other members of the Young Trib Force were scattered throughout the crowd. She thought she would make it without crying until she spotted Ryan. He was in the front row of the balcony, his eyes red.

He waved and tried to smile, then buried his face in his hands.

Atten o’clockRyan saw Rayford Steele walk through a door at the side of the platform. Another elder stepped to the pulpit and asked everyone to stand. He led them in singing two hymns. Ryan couldn’t get the words out.

Vicki smiled when she remembered Bruce’s singing. Bruce had admitted he couldn’t sing well, but that didn’t stop him from belting out what he called a “joyful noise” during congregational songs. At the end of one service he had leaned over to Vicki and said, “What I lack in tone, I make up for in volume.”

She smiled again as the songs ended. The elder told the congregation there would be no offering or announcements, just the tribute to Bruce.

“Our speaker this morning is Elder Rayford Steele. He knew Bruce as well as any of us.”

Judd sat in the back. Bruce had died more than a week earlier, but it still didn’t feel real. Hearing Rayford’s voice, calm and in control, eased the pain a bit.

Rayford opened his notes and welcomed everyone.

“I need to tell you I’m not a preacher,” he began.

“I am here because I loved Bruce. And since he left his notes behind, I will, in a small way, speak for him today.”

Judd imagined himself at the pulpit, wondering what he would say, when an old woman and a young boy walked in. The woman wore dark sunglasses. Judd stood and offered them his seat.

“I want to tell you how I first met Bruce,” Rayford was saying, “because I know that many of you met him in much the same way. We were in the greatest crisis of our lives, and Bruce was there to help.”

Judd moved to the back of the sanctuary, but people were standing shoulder to shoulder from the last pew to the back wall. He looked into the balcony and saw a space near the sound booth.

Ryan had heard Rayford’s story before. He had been best friends with Rayford’s son, Raymie. Ryan had even been at their house once when Mrs. Steele had talked about the rapture of the church with her husband.

Rayford explained that he had called the church when he discovered his wife and son were missing.

Then he met Bruce and saw the video the former pastor had left behind.

“If you had asked people five minutes before the Rapture what Christians taught about God and heaven,” Rayford said, “nine in ten would have said to live a good life, do the best you can, be kind, and hope for the best. It sounded good, but it was wrong! The Bible says our good deeds are worthless. We have all sinned. All of us are worthy of the punishment of death.”

Ryan looked around the room and saw a lot of new faces. The Underground had done a good job of bringing people in. Now it was Rayford’s turn to give them the message.

“I would fail Bruce if I didn’t say this,” Rayford said.

“Jesus has paid the penalty. The work has been done. We can’t earn our salvation; it’s a gift from God.”

Judd exited through the back doors and swiftly made his way to the balcony stairs. The overhead speakers carried Rayford’s voice throughout the building.

Judd stopped and listened as Rayford said, “If I can get through this, I would like to speak directly to Bruce. You all know that the body is dead. But Bruce, we thank you.

We envy you. We know you are with Christ. And we confess we don’t like it that you’re gone. We miss you. But we pledge to carry on. We will study, and this church will be a light house for the glory of God.

“

Tears in his eyes, Judd put his hand on the railing. As he did, someone grabbed his arm roughly and turned him around.

The man damped his hand over Judd’s mouth and leaned close.

“Don’t make a sound,” Taylor Graham whispered.

“You’re coming with me.”

Vicki hung on every word. Rayford was about to preach the very sermon Bruce would have given.

“But before I do that, I want to give you a chance to say something in memory of our brother.”

Vicki looked around. No one moved. Finally, she heard a voice from the back. Loretta stood and described how she had worked with Bruce since the disappearances. She challenged people to give their lives to Christ as Bruce did, then she broke down. The man next to her gently put his arm around her.

People around Vicki wept. Loretta was crying. Vicki wanted to stand and say something, but she felt nervous. Would anyone care what she thought about Bruce? Finally, she knew if she didn’t say something, her heart would break.

She stood.

Taylor Graham hustled Judd through the front door and around the side of the church. Judd tried to pull away, but the pilot was strong. Judd looked for Global Community officers or a squad car. Two blocks from the church, Graham found his car, unlocked the passenger side, and pulled Judd in after him.

Vicki shook, but she knew what she was doing was right.

“I’ve done some bad things in my life,” Vicki said.

“When my family disappeared, I thought I hadn’t been good enough.

Then I met Bruce, and I heard the message.

“He was always kind, and it never bothered him that I asked a lot of questions. When I got sent to a detention center, he visited me. When I heard someone wanted to adopt me and make me his daughter, I couldn’t imagine who. But I should have known.”

Yield’s voice trembled. She pushed her hair behind an ear and bit her lip.

“I can’t tell you how much Bruce helped me understand God’s love,” Vicki continued.

“Mr. Steele is right. God loved us enough to want to adopt us into his family, even when we didn’t deserve it. That’s what Bruce did for me, and I’ll always love him for it.”

Vicki scanned the crowd. Some wiped their eyes. Others nodded.

Everyone looked at her.

“Don’t let this day go to waste,” Vicki said.

“If you don’t know God, ask him to forgive you today and become his child.

You’ll never regret it. “

Vicki sat and bowed her head. From all over the sanctuary people stood and told what Bruce meant to them. After more than an hour, Rayford said they could take one more person before a brief break.

Vicki heard a voice with a thick accent behind her.

“You do not know me,” Tsion Ben-Judah said.

“Many Christian leaders around the globe knew your pastor, learned from him, and were brought closer to Christ because of him. My prayer for you is that you would continue his ministry and hismemory, that you would, as the Scriptures say, ‘not grow weary in doing good.”“ At Rayford’s request, Vicki and the congregation stood and stretched.

“We’re long past our normal closing time,” he said, “so I’d like to excuse any who need to leave.”

As Rayford backed away from the pulpit, everyone sat down and looked at him. Someone giggled, then another, and a few more. Rayford smiled, shrugged, and returned to the pulpit.

“I guess there are things more important in this life than personal comfort, aren’t there?” he said. Vicki heard a few amen’s. Rayford opened his Bible and Bruce’s notes.

A thousand thoughts flashed through Judd’s mind as Taylor Graham drove in silence. Was Graham turning him over to the hands of the North American Global Community? Was he out for revenge for Judd and Ryan’s escape? Judd had always been able to think quickly. Now he didn’t know what to say or do.

Graham turned into the forest preserve that led to the Stahley property.

They wound along the access road and to the edge of the woods. Graham stopped the car, flipped on a gadget on his dashboard, then sped into a clearing. The pilot activated a remote control device, and the side of the hill opened.

Graham drove into the secret plane hangar and punched the door closed.

“Why didn’t you do that the first time we came here?” Judd said.

“Ground was wet,” Graham said.

“The tracks would have led them right to us.” The pilot got out of the car.

“Follow me,” he said.

Ryan listened carefully as Rayford outlined his message. The words were Bruce’s, written on an airplane while returning from a trip. Some of the things Bruce wrote sounded spooky.

Rayford said, “Bruce writes,“ I was ill all night last night and feel not much better today. I was warned about viruses, despite all my shots. I can’t complain. I have traveled to many countries without problem.

God has been with me. If I’m not better upon my return, I’ll get checked out. “

“This message is particularlyurgent, because he was convinced we are at the end of the time of peace.

Bruce writes, “If I am right, we must prepare for the next prediction: The Red Horse of the Apocalypse.

“” I don’t like the sound of this, Ryan thought.

Rayford continued reading from Bruce’s writing.“ Revelation 6:3-4 predicts what I believe is a global war.

It will likely become known as World War III. This will immediately usher in the next two horses of the apocalypse, the black horse of plague and famine, and the pale horse of death. “

Ryan watched Rayford look up from his notes.

“Do any of you find this as astounding as I do?” Rayford asked.

Ryan nodded. It’s happening right now! He thought.

“This was written just before or just after the first bomb was dropped in our global war. I don’t know about you, but I want to listen to a man like this.”

Ryan quickly thumbed through his Bible as Rayford read from Revelation 6.

“And I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green like a corpse. And Death was the name of its rider, who was followed around by the Grave. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals. “

Bruce says, “I’ll admit I don’t know what the wild animals refer to,” Rayford continued.

“They could be real animals or perhaps the weapons used by the Antichrist and his enemies. Whatever it means, one-fourth of the world’s population will be wiped out. Of the quarter of the earth’s population that will perish, surely many, many of these will be tribulation saints.”

Ryan shuddered. A fourth of all the people on earth. Will I be one of them?

Judd sat and Taylor Graham pulled a chair near him. The pilot shook his head and frowned.

“You guys gave me the slip in Indy,” he said.

“Got me in big trouble.”

Judd gritted his teeth.

“You sold us out,” he said.

“Why do you say that?”

“Never mind why,” Judd said.

“Do you admit it?”

Graham looked at the floor.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” he said.

“A lot I still can’t tell you. I guess you deserve to hear my side.”

Vicki felt lost. The meeting was a tornado of emotion. And now she was listening to Mr. Steele talk about the first four of seven Seal Judgments. She tried to focus.

Thankfully, Mr. Steele asked for a five-minute break.

“We’ll meet back here atone o’clock. Then I’ll make us all aware of what we have to look forward to within the next few weeks.”

Vicki looked for Judd in the front hallway but couldn’t find him.

Lionel slipped in beside her.

“Pretty intense, huh?” Lionel said.

“Imagine sitting in there and not knowing any of those predictions from the Bible,” Vicki said.

“You’d have to believe this is true.”

“It might be too scary,” Lionel said.

“People can shut out what they don’t want to hear.”

“Mr. Steele is telling us stuff I haven’t heard yet,” Vicki said.

“And I don’t get the four horses and the seven seals.”

Lionel leaned against the wall as some people crowded by, eager to get back into the service before Rayford began again.

“I talked with Chaya yesterday,” Lionel said.

“She’s got it down. The four horsemen are the first four judgments from God. The red horse is the start of the war, then the rest of them—famine, plague, and death—happen right after. Bruce thinks we’re right in line for numbers five, six, and seven.”

“And then Jesus comes back?” Vicki said.

“No,” Lionel said.

“There are two more seven-part judgments after this one.” Lionel frowned.

“I guess that’s why they call it the Tribulation. There’s a lot of trouble ahead.”

Vicki held up a hand.

“Speaking of trouble,” she said.

“What is it?”

Vicki nodded toward the stairs. Coming towards them was the principal of Nicolae High, Mrs. Jenness.

Before Taylor Graham could speak again, Judd took over.

“You sold us out,” Judd said.

“You were going to give us over to the Global Community.”

“Is that why you took off?” Graham said.

“Darrion tipped you off on the phone?”

Judd didn’t answer.

“I thought I could trust you guys,” Graham said.

“That whole thing with Ryan being sick was a big act.”

“You thought you could trust ms?! “ Judd yelled.

“If we’d stayed with you, the GC would have been all over us.”

“You don’t understand. If you’d stayed with me, I could have pointed them away from you. It’s too late for that now.”

“I thought you were working with the GC,” Judd said.

“They’re after us.”

“No, they’re after you,” Graham said.

“They’re interested in Ryan, but only because he can lead them to you.”

“We shouldn’t be seen together,” Lionel said.

Vicki was thinking the same thing, but it was too late now.

Mrs. Jenness spotted Vicki and Lionel and came directly toward them. She pursed her lips and looked down.

“I know we’ve had our differences,” Mrs. Jenness said, “but I’m genuinely sorry for your loss.”