Hunted

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  The Walterboro group gathered round them after dark, put their hands on Judd and Lionel, and prayed for their safety. Though they hadn’t stayed long, Judd felt like they were part of his family. They had risked their lives, and Judd was emotional as the believers huddled around them.

  One of the members had agreed to drive them from Walterboro to Barnwell, where the members of Luke and Tom’s group stayed. The man had disabled the car’s brake lights and they set out after midnight, driving by moonlight. When they saw headlights of an oncoming car, they pulled over and hid until it passed.

  Carl Meninger met them in the wee hours of the morning and showed Judd and Lionel where they would sleep, but both agreed to stay up the rest of the night and sleep during the day. Carl took them to the makeshift computer room, and Judd and Lionel spent a few hours writing e-mails and finding out more about the Global Community’s latest actions.

  Judd became so engrossed that he didn’t notice Carl walk into the room, tears in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Judd said.

  “We just saw a report about the bounty hunters,” Carl said. “Tom and Luke are dead.”

  The news hit Judd like a punch in the stomach. He staggered from the computer to the TV in the next room.

  “More now on the deaths of two young men thought to be the arsonists terrorizing South Carolina,” the reporter said. The picture switched to grainy video shot the night before and three bounty hunters standing by two bodies.

  “This is them, all right,” one man said. “We caught them with gasoline they used to start the fires last night.”

  The camera moved closer, showing the faces of Judd’s friends. The two brothers who had saved Judd’s life lay lifeless on a wooden pallet. Someone had tried to rub the shoe polish from their faces, but the Global Community spokesman said their identities weren’t important. “What is important,” the man said, “is that a message is sent to our enemies. As you can see, neither of these two had the mark of loyalty, so the bounty hunters will receive their reward, as will any citizen who finds and exposes anyone not bearing lord Carpathia’s mark.”

  Judd went back to the computer and sat, numb from the news. After a brief memorial service for Luke and Tom, Judd wrote Vicki: I can’t help thinking they wasted their lives trying to stop the bounty hunters. They could have done so much more for the cause. I don’t want that to happen to us.

  Over the next few weeks, Vicki waited for Judd’s calls each morning and kept track of his progress with the atlas and a pen. Judd would give his location, and Vicki drew lines from South Carolina, through North Carolina, and into Virginia. Vicki had a celebration when Judd crossed into a new state.

  Judd and Lionel were taking great care in their travels, but Vicki couldn’t help but worry when they’d report seeing a GC squad car or even a normal citizen. Their job, as Judd told it, was to walk or ride as far as they could each night, taking as few chances as possible. If they had the choice to go ten miles over a mountain with no chance of seeing anyone, or going five through a more populated stretch, they went over the mountain.

  “The thing that scares us most is dogs,” Judd said one morning. “The ones that have survived all the plagues seem meaner, and they bark their heads off at anybody on foot.”

  The next day, Vicki didn’t get a call from Judd until late in the afternoon. She worried throughout the day until the phone rang.

  “We found a cave just before sunup,” Judd said from a Kentucky cave, “but since this place is so remote, we decided to find the safe house. It was set back on a hill overlooking a little town, but when we got there, several GC officers surrounded the place.”

  “Those poor people,” Vicki said.

  “The GC stormed it and came out with nothing.”

  “You think the people were tipped off?”

  “I hope so. Anyway, we won’t be able to get the ride we thought we would.”

  “I don’t like how long this is taking,” Vicki said.

  “We’re being safe,” Judd said.

  Vicki tried to keep her mind on other things, like working on the kids’ Web site. The best activity she found was cleaning and fixing up run-down cabins. The physical work helped keep her mind busy. She, Charlie, and the others completed the cleaning or construction of a new cabin about every two weeks.

  Every few days, Marshall Jameson would get a call for Zeke from some secret believer who had heard about what the man could do to people’s appearances. Zeke had set up shop in one of the renovated cabins and thrived on helping people. With the coming of Carpathia’s mark, there was only so much Zeke could do, but everyone who visited him went away happy.

  In her weak moments, Vicki counted the cost of not flying to meet Judd in France. They would be together now if she had, but she wouldn’t be available to Cheryl.

  Cheryl had reached the halfway point of her pregnancy but didn’t seem to gain much weight. She tried to eat healthy but felt sick to her stomach most of the time. She slept late each morning and could remain up only a few hours before going back to bed. Marshall, who had some medical training, admitted they needed to find someone to help with the baby’s delivery.

  Mark searched the Web for any information. Josey and Tom Fogarty were so concerned that Tom offered to drive to find a doctor, but they couldn’t locate one. Vicki sat with Cheryl and tried to calm her. Several times the girl was afraid she had lost the baby, and then it started to move again and Cheryl sighed with relief.

  “Zeke can do just about everything else— you think he could help?” Cheryl said.

  Vicki smiled. “You’re lucky you have so many people who care about you. We’re going to find some help.” But deep inside, Vicki wondered if they would or if the job would be Marshall’s.

  After the event with the Global Community in Kentucky, Judd and Lionel covered even less ground each day and camped about every other night. They both grew dirty, unable to take showers for days at a time, and let their beards grow. Lionel said Judd looked like a mountain man, while Judd said Lionel looked like a fuzzy cartoon character.

  “Which one?” Lionel said.

  Judd just laughed and waved a hand. They had become closer since hearing of the deaths of Luke and Tom. Judd felt more comfortable talking with Lionel about Vicki, and Lionel shared some of his fears about the final years of the Great Tribulation.

  “We’re playing for keeps now,” Lionel said. “It’s like everybody in the world is hunting us, and all we’re trying to do is survive.”

  “Everybody in the world needs what we have,” Judd said, “but if they’ve taken Carpathia’s mark, they won’t be able to believe.”

  Judd had never traveled through this part of the country, except by interstate, and he was surprised at how beautiful the land was. Even with the earthquake and the fires that had consumed grass and trees, he could still see the beauty of God’s creation.

  When they reached the Ohio River and prepared to cross, they decided against using bridges for fear they’d be spotted, so they found a small boat and pushed across. The river was swifter than Judd anticipated, and they drifted a mile downstream.

  Three days of hard traveling through rugged terrain left them on the outskirts of Salem, Indiana. They found the safe house in the wee hours of the morning and called from nearby. A groggy-voiced man answered and hurried to open the door of an old farm equipment store.

  The man, Eustice Honaker, pulled them inside and put a finger to his lips. He led them through the building to a secret compartment under the stairs. The room was below ground, only about five feet high, and housed nearly a dozen people sleeping on cots.

  Eustice pulled Judd and Lionel to the corner and whispered, trying not to awaken anyone, “There was a boat stolen a few nights ago along the river.”

  “That was us,” Judd said.

  Eustice pushed a tattered baseball cap back and scratched a bald spot. “The GC has scoured the countryside for you two. Somebody spotted you from a bridge, I guess.”

  “We
didn’t see anybody in the woods while we traveled,” Lionel said.

  “They’re out there, and they’ve enlisted everybody in this half of the state to find you. I thought you’d been caught.”

  What was supposed to be an overnight stay turned into weeks as Eustice and the others convinced Judd and Lionel that to leave would be suicide for both them and the local group. If Judd had felt isolated before, he now felt so cooped up he could scream. There was no Internet connection, so he got his news about other believers from Vicki and those he talked with via phone. Vicki read him huge chunks of Buck Williams’s The Truth, and Judd relayed the words to his new friends.

  Since there was no sunlight inside the hideout, Judd snuck out before sunup and put the phone in some weeds where he knew it would recharge, then retrieved it late the next night. The only news about local happenings came from a local radio station.

  After moving several hundred miles and feeling the freedom of being their own bosses, Judd and Lionel felt like their future was in someone else’s hands. Several times the group had given the okay for them to leave, only to have the Global Community strike up another round of raids. The weeks turned to a month, then two. Finally, five months since leaving Israel, Judd and Lionel began the final leg of their journey.

  Eustice and the others gathered around and prayed, as so many of the groups had done. They also prayed for the Wisconsin believers and Cheryl’s baby in particular.

  As Judd slipped into the muggy Indiana night, he knew he was closer than ever to reconnecting with his friends.

  “You ready for this?” Lionel said.

  Judd nodded. “I’ve never been so ready.”

  Vicki raced to the main cabin for Marshall Jameson. Cheryl Tifanne had been complaining of pain in her stomach for hours, and everyone hoped it would go away. She still had several weeks to go before giving birth, but Vicki could tell from the girl’s sweating and increased pain that something terrible was happening.

  Marshall had tracked down a midwife who was a believer and through a coded e-mail had discovered she lived about two hours away. Marshall sent a message, grabbed his coat, and headed for his vehicle. Mark followed him out the door.

  Vicki glanced at the clock. If it took Marshall two hours to get there and two hours to get back, it would be 4:00 A.M. before he returned.

  When Cheryl screamed, Vicki rushed inside the cabin.

  Shelly held the girl’s hand, placing a cold cloth on her forehead. “She’s not getting any better, and her stomach’s getting tighter.”

  “Just hang on, Cheryl,” Vicki said. “Help is on the way.”

  Judd took the lead and headed up a rocky slope in the moonlight. “How does it feel?” he said to Lionel.

  “Nothing against those people, but I was about to go crazy.”

  They had been walking two hours, Judd making sure they were headed north. A cool breeze blew out of the west. “I don’t care if we spend the rest of the trip outside. The fresh air is like a taste of heaven.”

  Just after midnight they came to a ridge that Judd thought must have been created by the wrath of the Lamb earthquake. On the left of the hill was a swiftly moving stream, and to the right was a rock face that heaved up.

  “Your call,” Judd said. “You want to go around?”

  “Nah, let’s go over the top. I’m ready for some adventure.”

  The climb up the slope wasn’t difficult. There were some loose stones, but the grade was about as steep as a ski slope Judd had climbed as a kid. But when they reached the top, Judd’s mouth gaped. The other side was a sheer drop.

  “You sure you don’t want to go around?” Judd said.

  Lionel looked at his watch. “We’ll save time this way. Come on.”

  Lionel led the way. Judd was glad there were only a few clouds out or they wouldn’t have been able to see the footholds. About halfway down, Lionel held up a hand and told Judd to wait. “Let me get closer to the bottom before you climb down.”

  Judd sat back against a boulder, and a cascade of tiny rocks skittered down the hill. Lionel shielded his face with a hand and scowled.

  “Sorry,” Judd said in a loud whisper.

  The passing clouds looked like a train, spreading out across the black sky. Judd wondered if Vicki was still up. He thought about calling her but decided against it.

  Lionel moved slowly, so Judd got another foothold and stepped onto the boulder so he could relax. As he put his weight on the huge rock, he felt something move. Another cascade of tiny rocks plunged down the incline, and then the boulder itself tipped forward.

  “Hey, look out!” Judd yelled, jumping from the rock and sliding down a jagged slope.

  The boulder moved like a turtle, slow and easy as it tilted. Then, as the ground shifted and the earth beneath it gave way, the rock gained momentum and crashed down the hillside.

  Judd grabbed a bush growing straight out of the hill and hung on. He glanced down, seeing Lionel frantically trying to move out of the way. Judd screamed as the rock bounced left, heading straight for Lionel.

  16

  JUDD Thompson Jr. let go of the bush and scampered to his left, trying to escape certain death. Tiny rocks fell as he searched for footing, his feet pumping like a cartoon character’s. Lionel was down there, but all Judd could think about was getting out of the way.

  Judd lunged for a flat rock and hung on with both hands. He glanced back as the rock reared in the air like a stony stallion and hovered, blocking the clouds and sky. Just as he thought he would be squashed, the rock tipped to the right and began a free fall toward the bottom. Smaller rocks and dust covered Judd’s face.

  The ground shuddered with each turn of the rock. Judd pulled himself to a sitting position while the boulder crashed to the bottom.

  As the dust settled and Judd caught his breath, he looked for Lionel. He had had plenty of time to get out of the way, and Judd wondered if he had jumped into the bushes by the stream.

  “Guess we should have gone around, huh?” Judd called out.

  No response.

  “That rock was as big as a house. Good thing we got out of the way.”

  Still no response.

  “Hey, Lionel, where are you?”

  Crickets chirped and frogs croaked. Hearing the trickle of water gave Judd an eerie feeling. Everything was peaceful, as if nothing had happened.

  “Come on, man, this isn’t funny. You think I tried to knock that rock down?”

  Judd surveyed the damage. The crashing rock had left several craters in its wake, which would make it even more difficult to get down. Any moment he expected Lionel to jump out from behind a bush and scold him.

  Judd carefully took a few steps left to a small ridge. As he slowly climbed down, something hissed near his foot. He jumped and slid a few feet. When he heard the hiss again, he leaped to the ground, a good fifteen-foot drop.

  His knees ached after the fall, but he was glad to be away from the snake. “Lionel?”

  Judd listened closely. Rocks skittered down the hill and came to rest near him. Either Lionel was hiding in the bushes or …

  “Lionel, I just heard a snake.”

  Something moved and moaned softly. Judd called Lionel’s name again, but only crickets and frogs responded. Something swooped over him, a fluttering of wings and a caw. Judd ducked, then saw the outline of a crow against the night sky. When the bird lighted in a nearby tree, Judd moved toward the boulder. What he saw when he rounded the corner took his breath away.

  Vicki Byrne held Cheryl Tifanne’s hand and prayed with all her might. Vicki feared the baby was in trouble, but the greater fear was that Cheryl was about to deliver it without the help of the midwife.

  Sweat poured from Cheryl’s forehead, the girl turning her head from side to side and moaning. When the cabin door opened and Vicki turned, Cheryl dug her fingernails into Vicki’s arm.

  “Don’t leave me,” Cheryl said through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t worry.”

  S
helly came in with Josey Fogarty. Josey carried a box and placed it on the nightstand. “There’s some pain medication in here—”

  “Good,” Vicki said, grabbing a bottle.

  “Wait,” Josey said. “If she’s in labor, she shouldn’t take anything.”

  “I need something for the pain!” Cheryl screamed.

  Josey pulled Vicki’s arm and whispered, “This medicine will go right to the baby. It could endanger the child.”

  “But don’t they give women medicine for pain before they have their babies?” Vicki said. “That’s what happened with my mom.”

  “They can give them all kinds of things, but the patients are on monitors, checking heartbeats and oxygen levels. We don’t have any equipment, and the medicine is the wrong kind.”

  “Vicki!” Cheryl shouted.

  “I’m right here,” Vicki said, then turned back to Josey. “We have to give her something.”

  “Not until we know for sure what’s happening,” Josey said.

  Shelly reached in her pocket, and plastic rattled. She pulled out a half-eaten roll of candy. “We could give her this.”

  “That won’t do anything,” Vicki said.

  “But if she thinks it’s medicine, maybe it’ll calm her down.”

  Josey nodded. “It’s worth a try.”

  “Give me one,” Vicki said.

  Cheryl’s hands shook as she sat up and grabbed a glass of water. She popped the piece of candy in her mouth without looking at it and downed the glass, water dripping from the corners of her mouth and onto her bedsheets. Cheryl closed her eyes and lay back, trying to catch her breath.

  “Try to relax,” Josey said. “You and the baby are going to be fine.”

  “Is the doctor coming?” Cheryl said.

  “She’s a midwife—it’s like a doctor, without the hospital,” Vicki said.

  “How long before she comes?” Cheryl gasped.