Traickin hesitated. “I’d rather not. If it gets damaged . . .”
“You’re not working for the GC,” Conrad said. “That thing’s only for show, right?”
Traickin chuckled. “You’re right. But only for a minute.”
He passed the helmet to Vicki. She looked at it, then leaned forward and hit the window button by Pete’s arm.
“What are you doing?” Pete said.
“Taking care of a little business,” Vicki said. She threw the helmet out the window. The helmet slammed onto the road and cracked.
Chris Traickin cursed.
“What did you do that for?” Pete said.
“Roll up the window!” Traickin yelled. Pete hit the button.
Vicki said, “We’re going to see if our friend here is telling the truth.”
Judd leaned closer to the monitor. “Is she in the closet?”
Kasim stared at the GC officer. “If he finds her, we’ll have to rescue her.”
The officer backed away, scanned the room again, and walked into the living room. He picked up the bag of ice and left.
“Whew,” Judd said, “that was close.”
Nada crawled out from under the bed and crossed to the closet. She was almost to the trapdoor when three GC officers bounded back inside the room, yelling and pointing their guns.
Nada screamed. Judd jumped from his seat, but Kasim grabbed him. “Wait.”
The officers led Nada into the living room. She broke free and kicked the door closed. The officers screamed and dragged her back to the living room, throwing her onto the couch.
Kasim frantically loaded information onto a disk from his computer. When he was finished, he ran a program that destroyed all the information on the computer. “This is it. One way or another, we’re not coming back here.”
Vicki stared at Chris Traickin as Pete pulled to a stop at the side of the road. Locusts swarmed around the windshield yelling, “Apollyon!” Traickin looked terrified.
“Are you wearing a wire?” Vicki whispered.
Traickin glanced at Pete, then back to Vicki.
“What’s going on?” Pete said, squinting.
Vicki explained what Omer had said. Pete ripped Traickin’s uniform open and found a tiny microphone. Pete tore the microphone away and smashed it against the dashboard.
“They’re going to be here any minute!” Traickin screamed. “They’re onto you!”
Pete grabbed Traickin’s head with one hand and rubbed at the man’s forehead with the other. The mark smudged a little.
“How did you know how to fake this?” Pete said.
Traickin pulled away. He reached for the door handle but spied the swarming locusts and shrank back.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Pete said. “Talk.”
Traickin shook his head. “I’m not telling you anything!”
“Fine,” Pete said. He reached for the window button. “Maybe letting a couple of locusts in will change your mind.”
“No!” Traickin shouted. When Pete removed his hand from the button, Traickin said, “I serve Nicolae Carpathia. When the militia uprising started, under the command of President Gerald Fitzhugh, I was asked to go undercover and expose the rebels.”
“And you got a lot of people killed,” Pete said.
“A lot of guilty people who were trying to overthrow the Global Community,” Traickin said. “It was our one chance at a peaceful world.”
“So the war ends and you’re looking for different work?” Conrad said.
“The war ends and I volunteer,” Traickin said. “I want to expose anyone who’s against Nicolae.”
“You’re a traitor to your wife,” Pete said. “She tried to tell you the truth.”
Traickin smiled. “My wife is dead. I honor her memory by following a man of peace.”
“How did you learn about the mark of the believer?” Vicki said.
“I stumbled onto one of those—what do you call them?—house churches. One of the kids drew a picture of the mark. A friend helped me put it on.”
“You got those people in Maryland arrested,” Shelly said.
Traickin smiled again. “And any minute, the GC will catch up to you.”
Pete started the truck and gunned the engine. “Not if I can help it.”
Kasim and Judd quietly crawled into the apartment above. Somehow the bedroom door had closed when the GC led Nada from the room. Judd put his ear to the door and listened. Kasim moved to the window.
“How did you get into the apartment?” a Peacekeeper said.
“I told you,” Nada said, “I came in by mistake.”
“What were you doing with the bag?” the officer said.
“We have to do something,” Judd whispered.
“I’m working on the windows,” Kasim said. “They won’t open.”
“We can’t climb down from here,” Judd said.
“That’s not the plan,” Kasim said. “It’s going to take some time to break it. Lock the door and put your body in front of it.”
Judd locked the door quickly. Kasim picked up a wooden nightstand and smashed it against the window. The glass didn’t break.
“What’s that?” the GC officer said from the next room.
“Hurry!” Judd said.
Kasim retreated a few steps and ran at the window with the nightstand above his head. The window shattered but didn’t break.
Someone jiggled the doorknob. “Open this door!”
Judd stood his ground as someone ran against the door. The hinges cracked, but the door stayed in place.
Kasim threw the nightstand against the window again, but the glass wouldn’t break. There was a fluttering outside the window, and Judd finally figured out Kasim’s plan.
Kasim picked up the nightstand once more and raised it over his head.
From the other side of the door Judd heard a Peacekeeper say, “Stand back. I’ll shoot the lock!”
26
JUDD jumped out of the way as a gun fired. Seconds later a burly GC officer crashed through the door.
Judd threw his hands above his head. “Don’t shoot!”
The officer looked past Judd and raised his gun. “Stop!”
Kasim threw the nightstand. It crashed into the window, and glass scattered on the floor.
Another officer ran in just in time to see the first locusts fly inside. The two men screamed and tried to pull the door closed, but it was off its hinges. Frantically they scrambled into the living room as the locusts landed on their backs and stung them.
Judd raced past them and found Nada. She was handcuffed. Judd found a key on a man writhing on the floor and set her free.
In the hallway, Judd, Nada, and Kasim found other Peacekeepers on the ground, gasping and moaning. They stepped over several of them to get to the stairwell.
Locusts surged into the stairwell as Nada opened the door.
“Which way?” Nada yelled.
“Kweesa’s apartment,” Judd said.
“No,” Kasim said, “we have to get out of the building!”
Kasim propped the door open. Locusts seemed to follow the three as they raced to the first floor.
Kasim paused at the bottom. “Let’s put on a good show.”
Again Kasim propped the door open and the three went screaming into the lobby. An alarm pierced Judd’s ears, and the locusts shrieked, “Abaddon! Abaddon!” Two Peacekeepers at the entrance drew their guns, then scrambled under a table.
“Lock it down!” someone yelled on the radio. “Lock down every floor so these things don’t get into the tunnel!”
It was too late for the Peacekeepers on the floor. Judd opened an emergency door and another alarm rang. More locusts poured into the building, sensing their opportunity to sting unbelievers.
“Hold it open!” Kasim yelled as he ran to an access panel near the back of the lobby. He flipped a few switches and the alarms stopped. The door Judd was holding began to close.
“Hurry!” Judd ye
lled.
Nada stuck a foot against the door, but it pushed them back inside. Kasim lunged at the door and opened it enough for them to escape.
“Why’d you do that?” Judd said.
“I locked the stairwell doors and the floor we were on,” Kasim said. “No sense in letting everybody in there get stung.”
“If they get in the air ducts, it won’t matter,” Judd said.
Kasim looked at the building. “I hope Kweesa’s all right.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Nada said.
“Either of you know a safe place?” Kasim said.
“I do,” Judd said.
Vicki watched the countryside roll by as Pete raced west. Shelly was the first to notice a car following.
“They’re not closing in,” Conrad said. “I wonder if they’re tracking us somehow.”
Pete looked at Chris Traickin. “Did you put something in the truck that tells them where we are?”
Traickin looked away. Pete grabbed him with one hand. “Tell me or I’ll open this window right now.”
Traickin trembled. “I stuck the transmitter they gave me under the step on my side.”
“You stopped to tie your shoes before we left,” Vicki said.
Pete shook his head. “We have to get rid of it.”
“What do we do with him?” Conrad said, pointing at Traickin.
“I’d like him to see the truth,” Pete said, “but I don’t suppose—”
“I know the truth,” Traickin said. “Nicolae Carpathia is god and I’ll serve him.”
“What would it take to convince you we’re right?” Vicki said.
Traickin sneered. “Nothing you could ever say would convince me. I’ve met the man face-to-face. I know Nicolae Carpathia is the leader we need, and he’s going to bring peace to the world. Follow him or one day you’ll die.”
“That’s the mark of a man of peace,” Conrad said. “Follow him or he kills you.”
Pete looked at Traickin. “We don’t want to hurt you or see you get stung. But we have to put you out of the truck.”
“They’re going to catch you, no matter—”
Pete held up a hand. “I want to give you one more chance. If you get stung by those things, you’ll suffer pain for at least five months. God doesn’t want that. He’s trying to get your attention. The Bible says—”
“Stop,” Traickin interrupted. “If you’re going to throw me out of here, do it. Don’t preach.”
Pete bit his lip. He pulled to the side of the highway and pointed to a frontage road that paralleled the interstate. “You’re wrong about Carpathia and the GC. I’ve read the end of the story. They don’t come close to winning.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Chris Traickin said. With that, he opened the door and stepped out. A swarm of locusts surrounded him. He flailed at them, but a locust landed on his neck. Vicki turned her head as the man ran toward a guardrail, lost his balance, and fell into a ravine.
Conrad quickly got out, grabbed the transmitter, and ripped it from the truck. “What should I do?”
“Throw it close to that road,” Pete said. “That’ll keep the GC busy awhile and they’ll find Traickin.”
Conrad threw the transmitter as far as he could and jumped back inside. Vicki looked for the GC but didn’t see their car. As they drove away, Vicki spotted the crumpled body of Chris Traickin at the bottom of the ravine.
Lionel sat with Sam in Pavel’s apartment. Since the boy’s death, they hadn’t heard from Mr. Rudja or Judd. Lionel wanted to help the man in his grief, but he didn’t know what to do.
Lionel had sent several e-mails trying to find a flight home. He used Pavel’s computer and was excited to find a message from Chloe Williams.
Lionel,
I don’t have good news. I can’t help with your request to get back to the States or to Israel right now. Buck’s still in Israel himself, and we’re hoping he’ll make it home for the birth of our baby. I’m slowing down a little with my work here. I feel as big as a barge.
There are new pilots and drivers signing up with the co-op every day to help move supplies, but air travel is almost impossible with the locusts taking out most of the ground crew. If I find a way for you to get home, I’ll let you know. Please keep working every angle you have there. Maybe Mac will have an idea.
Tsion sends his love. We’re praying for you and the others. Dad and I were talking about the Young Trib Force the other day. We’re excited about the new Web site you’ve put together. Tsion raves about it. Whoever is heading that up is doing a great job.
We wish we could have you all with us, but space is pretty tight here. We’ve added a doctor to the Force who’s helping me with the pregnancy. You may remember the flight attendant, Hattie Durham. She’s staying with us too. She was stung and Doc Floyd is trying to help her, but nothing seems to work. She’s skin and bones.
If there’s anything you want us to pray about or help with, please let us know. And be careful in New Babylon. I know the locusts have changed things for a while, but Nicolae will be back to his old tricks in no time.
Love in Christ,
Chloe
Sam asked about Chloe and the others. Lionel explained how they had met the Tribulation Force.
“Wow,” Sam said, “I can’t believe you actually know Tsion Ben-Judah.”
Lionel forwarded Chloe’s message to Mark back at the schoolhouse and typed a note to Mac McCullum, Nicolae Carpathia’s pilot who had flown the kids to New Babylon.
Moments later the front door opened. Judd, Nada, and a bearded man rushed inside and slammed the door.
“What’s going on?” Sam said.
Judd put his hands on his knees and gasped for air. When he caught his breath he said, “I want you to meet Nada’s brother, Kasim.”
Lionel couldn’t believe it. Kasim told his story of becoming a believer in Christ just before the worldwide earthquake. Judd explained what had happened with the Peacekeepers in Dan Nieters’ apartment. “We barely got out of there,” Judd said.
“What about the girl you were staying with?” Lionel said to Nada.
“We’re not sure,” Nada said. “She may have been stung.”
Nada reached for a phone, but Judd shook his head. “I don’t want to take the chance of them tracing the call here.”
“But I have to tell Kweesa where I am or she’ll be suspicious,” Nada said.
Judd scratched his head. “Just hold off until things settle. If she was stung she won’t be able to talk.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” Nada said to Kasim. “We have to tell them you’re alive.”
“Not now,” Kasim said. “We have to wait for the right time. I want to get some sleep.”
Lionel told Judd and the others what Chloe had written. The kids decided to wait for Mr. Rudja to return and help them figure out what to do.
Vicki and the others prayed God would protect them from the Global Community Peacekeepers as they traveled. Though Pete was exhausted, he kept driving. Vicki fell asleep at nightfall and didn’t wake up until the sun was coming up the next morning. Pete finally pulled into a truck stop for fuel and coffee.
Vicki ran inside and found a phone. She dialed the secure phone in the schoolhouse, and Lenore answered.
“Mark’s still asleep,” Lenore said. “He was talking with Carl in Florida half the night, getting updates about you.”
“Carl heard about us?” Vicki said.
Lenore explained that the Peacekeepers’ plan was to have Traickin expose as many believers as possible. “Word is, several of the believers in Johnson City have been tracked down and arrested.”
“Oh no,” Vicki said. “It was a trap and we fell for it.”
“Just get back here as fast as you can so we can regroup,” Lenore said.
“What’s going on?” Vicki said.
“Those guys from South Carolina wrote, and we put their messages on the Web site. Now kids from around the country are writing and asking if
the Young Trib Force can come to their area!”
“Unbelievable,” Vicki said.
Judd fell asleep on the couch and was awakened a few hours later by Mr. Rudja. Judd explained about Kasim, and Mr. Rudja said, “He’ll want to get back to Israel and reunite with his parents.”
Judd nodded. “That seems like the best plan, but how?”
Mr. Rudja put his head in his hands. “I won’t be able to arrange anything until after the funeral.”
“We understand,” Judd said. “We wouldn’t want to leave before then anyway.”
Judd still felt guilty about Pavel. He had neglected the boy because he had been so caught up with Nada.
“What kind of service will you have?” Judd said.
“With the locusts, nothing is normal,” Mr. Rudja said. “I notified my superiors about Pavel’s death, and they have arranged a memorial service. I told them it wasn’t necessary, but they insisted.”
“What will they do?” Judd said.
Mr. Rudja took a deep breath. “We’ll meet in a secure room at the Enigma Babylon Cathedral. They wanted Pontifex Maximus to be there, but he’s still suffering from a locust sting.
“I don’t want to be there, but it would be a slap in the face to the Global Community not to go. And I would dishonor my son.”
“What do you mean?” Judd said.
“I made a promise to him before he died, and I’m going to keep it.”
27
listened as Nada and Kasim spent hours talking, laughing, and crying at Mr. Rudja’s apartment. They relived childhood memories and adventures. When Kasim asked about their parents, Nada couldn’t hold back the tears. She told Kasim about meeting Judd and their father’s anger toward him.
“He doesn’t like the thought of losing you,” Kasim said.
Judd met with Lionel and Sam about returning to Israel or the States. Mac McCullum had e-mailed Lionel and said it was too risky to take them, and he could only do it if he received word from his superiors.
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