The Underground

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  “That would be me,” Mr. Carlson said sheepishly. “I brought them in my van and some kids helped me put them in the bins. I was with them the whole time.”

  “How many of you kids have ever been to the print plant?” Handlesman said. “So unless someone’s lying, seven of you have knowledge of when and where the papers are picked up.”

  Vicki assumed John and Mark raised their hands. Mr. Carlson would have been alarmed if they hadn’t. She slipped into the hallway as Coach Handlesman barked something about expelling all the journalism students unless the culprits confessed. The heat was being turned up on Nicolae Carpathia High School.

  ___

  At lunch she met in the cafeteria with Judd and John and Mark. The cousins were still shaken.

  Mark said, “Nobody admitted anything, and I thought Jenness was going to expel us all.”

  “That’s when the fire alarm rang,” John said. “Talk about timing.”

  “You’d think they would have postponed the drill when they had a big meeting going,” Judd said.

  “It wasn’t exactly a scheduled drill,” Vicki said. “Somebody hit a fire alarm.”

  “How do you know?” Judd said.

  Vicki smiled.

  “No,” Judd said.

  “Vicki to the rescue!” Mark said, and gave her a high five.

  “That sure settled things,” John said. “When the fire department gets called for nothing, the principal’s not too happy. After everybody got back inside, I think they were more interested in confiscating the Underground than finding out who actually put the thing together.”

  “One of the reporters told me the office collected a few hundred copies,” Mark said. “That means there’re still a thousand or more out there.”

  “Why is this such a big deal to Handlesman?” John said. “He’s the guy who took our Bibles too.”

  “Good question,” Judd said. “What does he have to gain or lose by a couple of Bibles or the Underground?”

  “About those Bibles,” Mark said. “Last week they turned up in our lockers.”

  “You’re kidding,” Vicki said. “Are you sure they’re the same ones?”

  “Yeah, they have our names in them and some of the verses are highlighted.”

  “It’s the weirdest thing,” John said. “No note, no explanation. I can’t figure who would have access to them.”

  “We’d better cool it a couple of days,” Judd said. “Let’s not press our luck. We’ll see you two guys in a few days.”

  ___

  That night at home Judd filled in Lionel and Ryan, and everybody agreed it had been an amazing day. Then Bruce called.

  “I need to see the four of you right away,” he said.

  “Something wrong?” Judd said. “We wanted to go with Vicki to—”

  “I’ll tell you when you get here. Come as quickly as you can.”

  ___

  Bruce was alone at his desk. Judd told him Vicki needed to get back to her friend at the hospital soon. “This won’t take long,” Bruce said. To Judd, Bruce looked as grave as he had ever seen him. “Sit down.”

  Bruce moved to the front of his desk and sat on the edge. “I am very concerned about what’s going on at your school.”

  Bruce waited as if to see if anyone would explain. “I’m talking about the newspaper,” he said. “I admire your desire, but I disagree with the way you’ve done this.”

  “How did you find out?” Judd said.

  “Buck told me about Vicki’s call and I put two and two together. But I never dreamed you were thinking about something for the whole school. You didn’t seek my advice. You put each other in danger. And you’ve evidently gotten two other boys involved as well.”

  Judd exploded, “I can’t believe this! Yes, we took some chances, and no, we didn’t ask you to hold our hands. Sure we could have been caught, but we thought it was worth the risk.”

  Bruce looked stunned. Judd felt Vicki’s hand on his arm, but he pulled away.

  “You keep saying we don’t know how much time we have left, that people need Jesus before it’s too late. So we do something about it and you criticize us for taking risks!”

  “Now, Judd—”

  “I know you’re our pastor, but you’re not our father. I don’t know what everybody else thinks, but I’m prepared to risk this and a lot more. If it means the difference between people going to heaven or hell, I don’t care what happens to me.”

  Judd didn’t realize he had risen from his chair. He looked around, embarrassed at the shocked looks. Judd sat and took a deep breath. “Bruce, you didn’t even ask who Vicki was going to see in the hospital. Part of the reason Vicki even has a chance to talk with Shelly is the Underground.”

  “It’s not like we didn’t think this through,” Vicki said. “It’s hard to be criticized when so far only good has come from it.”

  “I’m proud of you,” Bruce said, “and I know you have the right motives, but—” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how much I can tell you.”

  “About what?” Lionel said.

  Bruce pulled a copy of the Underground from his desk. “There is another underground believer at Nicolae High. This person believes you’re all in grave danger.”

  “A Christian teacher?” Vicki said.

  “I didn’t say that,” Bruce said. “I was asked not to reveal this person’s identity, and I expect you to respect that.”

  “They know who we are?” Vicki said.

  “Process of elimination,” Bruce said. “This person heard about you through me. Assumptions about your identity were made when the Underground showed up.”

  “How do they, or you, know about the other two guys?”

  “Their Bibles were confiscated and they worked for the school paper last year. They were in some meeting today?”

  Judd nodded. “If whoever this is is worried about us being expelled, that’s not exactly grave danger.”

  “Expulsion would endanger the whole group and your setup,” Bruce said. “But this is worse than expulsion. Because of the high profile of the school, Global Community forces want to make this a test case. They’re talking about assigning GC monitors to the school, people with the authority to make arrests.”

  “Why would they be worried about us?” Ryan said. “We’re just a bunch of kids.”

  “But you’re talking about things Carpathia can’t tolerate. The Antichrist and his henchmen won’t allow proselytizing in a school named after him.”

  “What’s pros—”

  “Proselytizing,” Lionel said. “Trying to get people to believe what you believe.”

  “Pretty soon it’ll be illegal,” Bruce said.

  “To even talk to people about it?” Ryan said.

  “That’s right.”

  “You think they’ll start taking all the Bibles away?”

  “That wouldn’t surprise me.”

  Ryan shook his head. “So why don’t we gather up all the Bibles we can and hide them? Later on we can give them to the people who want to read them.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Bruce said. “Where would you hide them?”

  “Not here,” Ryan said, “because that’s the first place they’d look. We could stash them in Judd’s garage or in his basement until we find a better place.”

  “First we’d have to find a bunch of Bibles,” Judd said.

  “That’s easy,” Ryan said. “The people who disappeared had lots of ’em. I found some in a house the other day that looked like they’d never been used. I think the looters took everything else.”

  “Looks like you guys have at least one new mission,” Bruce said, and Judd could tell it meant a lot to Ryan that he had come up with a plan of his own.

  “Before you go,” Bruce said, “tell me a little about Vicki’s friend. I’m sorry I didn’t ask earlier.”

  After Vicki told him of her conversation with Shelly, Bruce prayed for her. “And you know what, kids?” he said. “I need you to
be praying for me too. As I think about the pull I feel to travel and trying to unite the little pockets of what the Bible calls the ‘tribulation saints,’ I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”

  “We’ll pray for you,” Judd said. “And I’m sorry for blowing up like that.”

  “I forgive you. Like the rest of us, your strength is your weakness. You know what that means?”

  Judd shook his head. “The same passion you have for God also gives you a short fuse. On one side it’s a strength. On the other, it’s a weakness. Something to work on.”

  When Vicki walked into Shelly’s hospital room, Shelly’s mother was by the bed. She rambled about her problems while she flipped through television channels looking for who-knew-what. She acted as if Shelly was just sick and seemed oblivious to the fact that Shelly had tried to take her own life.

  “I need to grab a bite to eat,” she said just before visiting hours were over. “I’ll be back to say goodnight.”

  Shelly shook her head as her mother left. “She needs a drink. That’s what she’s leaving for.”

  Vicki couldn’t wait any longer. “I promised I would keep your secret, Shelly. Whatever it is, God can forgive you. You mentioned something about a baby before I had to go?”

  Shelly pulled at her fingers and looked toward the door.

  “We’re alone now—you don’t have to worry,” Vicki said.

  “I never told anybody about this,” Shelly said. “It’s about Mom. I went with her to the doctor because she was feeling funny, and the tests came back positive. She was pregnant.”

  “I don’t understand,” Vicki said. “Why would you feel guilty for your mother being pregnant?”

  “I hated her so much, Vick.’ I couldn’t stand living there anymore. She told me not to, but I told Dad. She said he’d move out, that he’d leave us alone, but I was so mad at her. They yelled and screamed the whole night, and the next day he was gone. It’s my fault, Vick’.”

  “You know that’s not true, Shel’,” Vicki said. “People make their own decisions. Your dad would’ve found out anyway, right?”

  “Not if she’d had an abortion.”

  Shelly looked like she was about to cry.

  “To be honest, I was kinda excited to have a little brother or sister. I thought maybe I could take care of it, that it would make things better. I thought Mom might get some help, might sober up. But that night, when the Fischers and their babies vanished, God took my mom’s baby too. He punished me for what I did.”

  Shelly collapsed into tears and Vicki embraced her. Shelly’s mother did not return, so Vicki called Judd and told him she was staying the night. She was there, dozing in the chair, when Shelly awoke in the morning.

  EIGHT

  A Friend for Ryan

  “WE’VE all done bad things, Shel’,” Vicki said as they ate breakfast together in Shelly’s hospital room.

  “You really think God could forgive me?”

  “I know it’s hard to believe, but that’s what he promises. He can make you a new person.”

  Shelly hesitated. “Like I said, it sounds too good to be true.”

  “It’s a gift, Shel’. We all missed it the first time around. That’s why we’re still here.”

  “But if you’ve hated somebody all your life, and you’ve split your mom and dad apart just to be mean, it doesn’t seem right.”

  “God can forgive any sin, Shel’, trust me. It’s not how much we’ve sinned that’s important—it’s how much God loves us.”

  “What do you do to make this all happen?” Shelly said. “Do I have to kneel or something?”

  “I didn’t,” Vicki said. “I don’t think God cares, as long as your heart is in the right position. Know what I mean?”

  “Yeah. I guess I want to do it, but I don’t know what to say.”

  “You want to pray after me?”

  “You mean say what you say?”

  “Sure. If you mean it, God will know.”

  Shelly nodded and closed her eyes. She repeated each phrase after Vicki. “Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. Please forgive me. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins so I wouldn’t have to pay the penalty myself. Please come into my life and make me a new person. And thank you for promising that I will go to heaven to be with you when I die. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

  “That’s it?” Shelly said. “I don’t feel any different. Don’t I have to do something else?”

  “The only thing you need to do now is follow him.”

  Vicki was thrilled later to be able to tell Judd on the way to school, “We finally have another female member of the Young Tribulation Force!”

  A line of kids stretched in front of the school when Judd and Vicki arrived. Judd strained to see what was going on and finally tapped a boy on the shoulder and asked.

  “They’re searching everybody,” he said, “I think because of that underground paper.”

  Judd and Vicki finally made it through the doors and found the assistant principal and a Global Community guard going through backpacks. They were searching every third student.

  “You,” the Global Community worker said to Judd, “over here.”

  ___

  Vicki was waved on. She stopped at her locker and looked back. A commotion arose. Shouting. Books flying.

  “That’s not mine!” someone shouted. “Let me go!”

  A Global Community worker led a student away. Judd slipped out of line unnoticed and joined Vicki.

  “I think they found some booze in his backpack,” Judd said.

  “This is just what Bruce was afraid of. How are we going to get copies through now?”

  During announcements, Principal Jenness described the searches as “unfortunately necessary. We’re sorry many were inconvenienced this morning. If we knew who the perpetrators were, we wouldn’t have to conduct such searches. Any helpful information will be rewarded.”

  That night when the kids met with Bruce, Vicki loved seeing his reaction when he heard about Shelly.

  Judd said, “It makes me want to do another edition of the Underground soon.”

  “I can imagine,” Bruce said. “I wanted you to play it safe, but now I don’t know what to say. There’s more danger than ever—I know that. Let me show you what you’re up against.” He turned a television monitor and pushed Play on the VCR.

  A Global Community CNN reporter explained how President Gerald Fitzhugh had called upon nations of the world to study Nicolae Carpathia’s proposal to do away with all weapons. As a goodwill gesture, the President gave a new 757 airplane to the United Nations. It would be named “Global Community One.”

  Carpathia gazed directly into the camera, appearing to look right into the eyes of each viewer. His voice was quiet and emotional.

  “I would like to thank President Fitzhugh for this most generous gesture. We at the United Nations are deeply moved, grateful, and humbled. We look forward to a wonderful ceremony in Jerusalem next Monday.”

  Bruce turned off the TV. “We need to pray for Rayford Steele,” he said. “You know he and his daughter Chloe go to this church. We believe he will be asked to fly that plane for Carpathia.”

  “He’d be in almost as much danger as Judd and Vicki, wouldn’t he?” Ryan joked.

  “What ceremony is Carpathia talking about?” Vicki said.

  “I believe it’s the signing of a treaty between Israel and the new one-world government. If it is, it will signal the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation I’ve told you about. There are other signs. All nations are to convert their money to dollars within the year, so we’ll have a one-world currency. It’s almost too much to believe. There’s also talk of a one-world religion, which was also prophesied in Scripture.

  “Pieces of the one-world government are falling into place more quickly than I ever thought possible.”

  ___

  Vicki and Bruce visited Shelly at her trailer the next evening. Shelly looked pale, but there was a smile Vicki hadn’t seen for
ages. Shelly seemed nervous around Bruce at first, but Vicki assured her he was there only to help her understand more about the Bible.

  Bruce stood when Shelly’s mom walked into the room. Her hair was a mess and she smelled of alcohol. Shelly said, “You know Vicki, Mom. This is her friend, Pastor Barnes.”

  “A pastor? What are you doing here?”

  “Just talking to Shelly about God,” Bruce said. “Feel free to join us.” Shelly’s mother squinted warily at him but sat next to her daughter on the couch as Bruce pulled up a chair. First he told his own story, about how he’d been a phony for so many years and then lost his wife and children when he was left behind at the Rapture. He said he had finally prayed and received Christ into his life.

  “Shelly made that same decision last night,” Bruce said.

  “I don’t believe in religion,” Shelly’s mom said.

  “This is not religion,” Bruce said. “Religion is our way of trying to reach God. This is a relationship with a personal God who wants to help us.”

  “I don’t need help.”

  Bruce didn’t argue. He just pointed out specific Scriptures and explained them. Vicki knew he wanted Shelly to be sure she was going to heaven some day.

  “In 1 John 1:9 we are told that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness. And near the end of the Gospel of John, the writer says, ‘These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.’ The book of Romans says that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

  “The people who disappeared were the saved ones, Mom,” Shelly said.

  “That’s right,” Bruce said. “Just like you now, Shelly.”

  Shelly’s mom struggled to push herself up off the couch. She looked down on Bruce. “Get out of my house,” she said. “You’re trying to brainwash my girl.”

  “Mom! Just listen!”

  “I won’t,” she said. “Now get out!”

  The next day a still-dejected Vicki walked with Ryan as he darted in and out of various neighborhoods. Though she thought it unnecessary, she carried a huge trash bag. Ryan believed he could find enough Bibles to fill it, and Vicki didn’t argue. He was so excited about this adventure that she didn’t want to stifle him.