Arrived

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  Judd nodded. “The rabbi.”

  The man yelled at his friends, who returned. “This is our leader. We must take him.”

  “Take him where?” another said.

  “Anywhere but here. If the Unity Army finds him, they’ll give the body to Carpathia.”

  “We’ll build a shrine for him!” another said.

  “No,” Judd said, “he wouldn’t want that.”

  But two of them picked up Tsion’s body and hustled down the street.

  Judd gathered Vicki in his arms and neared Herod’s Gate.

  “They’re coming!” someone shouted. Then a terrific explosion rocked the area. Judd ran the other way, looking for an escape.

  35

  LIONEL glanced at his sweat-soaked watch. It was a little after one in the afternoon, and the sun had heated the desert up past one hundred degrees. Shells had fallen on Petra in the past few minutes, and though Lionel hadn’t seen anyone killed or injured, the bombs had landed. Had God lifted his protection?

  The million-plus inside Petra were clearly antsy as they streamed toward the meeting place. Lionel saw Mr. Stein and asked what was happening.

  “Dr. Rosenzweig is about to speak,” Mr. Stein said.

  Judd had gotten turned around by the advancing Unity Army and ended up on a street he didn’t recognize. All this time in Jerusalem, planning and memorizing its layout, and now he was lost. The Old City was only a third of a mile square. This shouldn’t have happened. And Vicki was losing lots of blood. She hadn’t complained about her injury, but he could tell she was in pain.

  She lifted her head from his shoulder, and her red hair fell across her face. “How much farther?”

  Judd couldn’t help thinking how beautiful Vicki was. Before the disappearances he had been attracted to girls who wore all the right clothes. Vicki had told him the only pair of designer jeans she ever owned had been bought at the thrift store near her trailer. Vicki’s inner beauty shone through now, and he couldn’t imagine anyone more attractive.

  “Almost there,” Judd assured her, though he had no idea where they were. He stopped in a doorway and gently placed her in the shadows to catch his breath and get his bearings. “I’ll be right back.”

  She caught his arm. “Don’t leave.”

  “Just going to make sure there’s nobody around that corner. Hang tough.”

  Judd raced to the end of the street, flexing his arms and stretching his back. Vicki was light, but his arms felt like Jell-O after carrying her for so many blocks.

  He reached the end of the street and sneaked a peek around the corner. He recognized a storefront café half a block away. Jamal’s apartment was only three or four blocks from it. He heaved a sigh of relief and turned.

  Footsteps. Boots on pavement. Someone barking orders.

  Had the Unity Army come this far? Or was it the rebels? Judd rushed down a stairwell and peered over the railing. He had to get back to Vicki.

  Lionel watched the huge crowd at Petra quiet for Chaim Rosenzweig. The man introduced a sermon given by Dr. Shadrach Meshach Lockridge. The image of the famous black preacher was projected off two white walls of smooth stone. Lionel found some shade in front of a big rock and sat. This preaching reminded him of home, especially when he and his family would visit relatives down South.

  Though the sermon took his mind off the advancing army, he knew this was designed to reach unbelievers in the camp. Lionel closed his eyes and listened. Something made him want to pray for Judd and Vicki.

  Judd held his breath while a platoon of rebels passed Vicki’s position and headed toward him. He rushed up the steps, and a rebel aimed his gun at him.

  “No, I’m with you!” Judd shouted.

  The man lowered the gun and scowled as the group kept moving. “Get out of here! Unity Army’s on its way.”

  Judd sprinted back to Vicki and gasped when he saw her limp form draped across the top step.

  “What happened?” Judd whispered as he made it to her side.

  Vicki opened her eyes. “Didn’t know if those were ours or theirs, so I played dead.”

  “Good girl. You had me fooled.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Jamal’s place is not far. We’re going to be okay, and pretty soon Jesus is going to come through those clouds and we’re both going to see him face-to-face.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  Judd pulled her right arm around his shoulder to help her stand, but before he could pick her up, more footsteps sounded behind them. There was no time to move, so Judd tried the door of the building.

  Locked.

  “This way!” someone yelled from the street.

  Judd and Vicki huddled in the shadows, hoping it wouldn’t be the Unity Army. Soon he heard their squawking radios and GC leaders giving commands.

  As the troops came into view someone said, “We don’t want them escaping through the Lion’s Gate to the east. After the shelling starts, we’ll push them north toward Herod’s Gate. They’ve held it since yesterday, but they’ll have to open it to get through and we’ll have them trapped.”

  The platoon passed quickly without noticing Judd and Vicki. With each heartbeat, more blood oozed from Vicki’s wounded leg.

  “As soon as they’re around the corner, we’re out of here,” Judd whispered.

  “What time is it?” Vicki asked, her head lolling to one side.

  Judd didn’t want to move to see his watch. “It’s after two thirty.”

  “Wrong. It’s time for Jesus to come back.”

  “Amen to that,” Judd said.

  A bomb exploded. Gunfire erupted. Choppers filled the sky. The platoon hurried around the corner.

  Judd stood, picked Vicki up, and headed for Jamal’s apartment. He cast a glance at the sky and said a simple prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.”

  Lionel’s heart was stirred by the video of the black preacher and the response of people in Petra. He wanted to stay until the end of the message, but he wanted to be at the battle line even more.

  He quickly returned to his assigned position and looked for Zeke. Sam told him Zeke was meeting with a Trib Force member. In the past half hour, the ragtag Petra army had fired their DEWs and some bigger guns at Carpathia’s vast army.

  “Bet those guys are hot in those black uniforms,” Lionel said.

  “I wonder if those tanks are air-conditioned,” Sam said, smiling.

  “GC casualties,” someone said from ahead. He turned and looked at Lionel and Sam. “You two part of Zeke’s crew?”

  “Yeah,” Lionel said.

  “Then you’re up,” the man said. “Four casualties— must be scouts—straight ahead.”

  “Got it,” Lionel said. He grabbed a couple of duffel bags and handed one to Sam. “Let’s go.”

  While some of Zeke’s crew rushed across the sand, Lionel and Sam moved cautiously. Their job was to harvest weapons, IDs, and uniforms.

  Sam reached the bodies first and tugged at the uniforms. Lionel seized weapons and put them in his duffel bag, keeping a wary eye on the line of horsemen not far away.

  “Judah-ite!” a Unity Army soldier yelled. “Leave those weapons or die.”

  Lionel stood, clutching the bag in his right hand.

  “What happened to your arm?” Another soldier laughed. “Get it caught in the lies of your leader, Ben-Judah?”

  Lionel stared at him. Zeke had made Lionel a new arm, but he had left it behind for this mission. He knew it was better to say nothing, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. He remembered two verses from Matthew and began reciting them. “ ‘Immediately after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then at last, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man will—’ ”

  “Blah, blah, blah,” the first soldier said. “So you think you can beat us with a few energy weapons? Is that what your God told you? Your God is wrong. We could simply keep movin
g and trample all of you without even firing a shot.” He leveled a gun at Lionel. “No, your God is wrong. Dead wrong.”

  “Don’t shoot!” Sam shouted.

  The soldier fired his weapon.

  Judd ran as fast as he could carrying Vicki, wishing he had stayed in the tunnels. He stuck close to the buildings, moving quietly.

  “Just around this corner and we’ll be able to see it,” he whispered, saying it as much for himself as for Vicki.

  Vicki’s injured leg dangled and blood dripped. Judd didn’t slow as he rounded the corner. What he saw took his breath away.

  Several Unity Army soldiers stood near bodies of rebels. A soldier fired a shot at Vicki and Judd, grazing a stone just above Judd’s head.

  “Hands up!”

  “We’re unarmed,” Judd yelled, trying to put Vicki down carefully. “My wife was hurt in one of the blasts near—”

  “Shut up!” an officer said. He motioned at another soldier, and the second man moved toward them, his weapon raised.

  Vicki turned to Judd. “Go. It’s your only chance.”

  “Shut up!” the officer repeated.

  “Make it to the tunnel,” Vicki whispered. “Go.”

  Judd pursed his lips. “We promised each other we’d stick together. I’m not leaving you now.”

  “They’re unmarked, sir,” the soldier said, circling Judd.

  Vicki collapsed and Judd tried to help her, but the soldier hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. Judd nearly passed out.

  “Take them to the holding area,” the officer said. “If they bat an eyelash, shoot them.”

  Lionel heard the gunshot as he closed his eyes and flinched. He expected to be lying on the ground with a bullet hole in his chest, but the shot whizzed past him— or through him. He turned to see a penny-sized hole in the sand directly behind him, then glanced back at the shooter.

  If that bullet landed there, how did it miss me? Lionel thought.

  “Lionel, Sam, get outta there,” someone said behind them. It was Zeke, standing on the crest of a dune.

  The soldier fired again while Lionel and Sam turned and walked away.

  “Their weapons won’t do a thing here,” Zeke said. “Just wastin’ their ammo.”

  “We’ll roll over you and smash you into this desert,” the officer yelled.

  “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what you think,” Zeke said, helping Lionel and Sam back to the line. “Your guy’s a loser. Ours is the true Lord.”

  Lionel was shaking when he made it back to the line. He found a small hole in the front of his shirt and one the same size in the back.

  36

  CONRAD Graham awoke a little after 6 a.m. in Palos Hills, Illinois, wiped the sleep from his eyes, and hit the light button on his watch. He had wanted to stay up the whole night, but fatigue had set in a little after 2 a.m. He had been praying for his friends, praying against the Unity Army of Carpathia, and praying for those who still hadn’t believed in Jesus.

  They’ll believe soon, one way or the other, he thought.

  Enoch Dumas slept on the musty mattress in the corner, and his heavy breathing filled the room. Conrad picked up the jacket he had draped over himself and quietly tiptoed upstairs. He had told Shelly he would meet her at six thirty.

  As Conrad stepped into the morning chill and darkness, he thought about his brother, Taylor. Taylor had hated everything Carpathia stood for and lost his life trying to work against the GC. However, Taylor had been killed without ever trusting God.

  That fact had haunted Conrad the past few years. No matter how many people he helped understand the truth or how many people he prayed with, there was always a shadow of regret. He would never meet Taylor again, never hear his laugh or relive old times.

  Shelly met Conrad at the door of the old house where she lived with several others from the Young Tribulation Force. She gave him a hug and said she hadn’t slept the whole night. “Darrion and I just kept looking at the sky and asking God to come back before daybreak, but nothing’s happened.”

  Conrad whispered what Enoch had said the night before, and they went downstairs. Several candles lit the meeting room, and Conrad smiled at the familiar people. Darrion. Ty and his sister, Tanya. Janie. Melinda.

  Charlie walked into the room yawning, followed by Phoenix, who padded up to Conrad and licked his hand. “How’s Mr. Enoch doing?” Charlie asked Conrad.

  “Sleeping right now,” Conrad said. “Before he fell asleep he told me to remind everybody that we’re meeting at the mall at eight.”

  “I wouldn’t miss that,” Charlie said.

  “What time is it over there?” Melinda said.

  “I think it’s early afternoon in Jerusalem,” Shelly said. “Two or three? I wonder how Judd and Vicki are.”

  Darrion switched off a handheld television. “GCNN reports total victory in the Old City, if you can believe anything they say.”

  “Is that where Judd and Vicki are?” Charlie said.

  Shelly put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “They’ll be okay. Judd and Vicki know how to take care of themselves.”

  Charlie sighed. “I’ve been praying for them all night.”

  “Maybe we should do that now,” Janie said. “Everybody, grab hands.”

  Conrad bowed his head and thanked God that Jesus was coming back. “Please make it today, Lord.”

  Vicki cradled Judd’s head in her lap as her tears fell on his face. He had struggled to carry her and then fell when they reached the transport truck.

  There were few believers on the truck, mostly rebels with chalky white skin. Vicki guessed they had lived underground the past few years since Carpathia’s mark had been required.

  One believer had helped her scoot near Judd. “Your friend is knocked out. He should be coming around soon.”

  But Judd didn’t awaken during the ride or when the truck reached the remains of Teddy Kollek Stadium. The GC had set up a command post there and brought many of their prisoners to the infield area. The once beautiful structure now had a gaping hole in one side where the prisoners were led. No one was in handcuffs. There were too many of them, and besides, anyone who tried to run was shot.

  The believer who had helped Vicki carried her from the truck as GC soldiers dropped Judd on a grassy area. The believer placed Vicki beside Judd.

  People filled the stadium infield, and the scene was like some horror movie. Those bloodied from battle stared through vacant eyes. Unity Army troops watched for any reason to shoot.

  Vicki looked around the stadium, remembering the sight from Tsion Ben-Judah’s televised meetings a few years earlier. Tsion had spoken to thousands of Jewish evangelists who had traveled the world spreading the message of Jesus. The two witnesses, Moishe and Eli, had walked through this very infield. And Nicolae Carpathia had made an appearance onstage. Now, like the rest of the world, Teddy Kollek Stadium was crumbling.

  A uniformed man with several bars on his shoulders approached a group of soldiers who snapped to attention.

  “Yes, sir, Commander Fulcire,” one of the soldiers said.

  Vicki focused on the commander’s face. This was the same man who had chased the kids in Wisconsin and executed Mark and Natalie Bishop.

  The commander had been the top dog back in the United North American States. Now, at the moment of the biggest battle in history, Fulcire was on guard duty.

  Vicki felt Judd’s neck for a pulse. It was there. He was still breathing. “Hang in there,” she whispered, her hair touching Judd’s face. “It won’t be long until we see our Lord face-to-face.”

  Conrad and the others in the Young Trib Force gathered with Enoch’s group behind the shopping mall just before eight in the morning. People listened to Enoch’s teaching, looking at the sky, some frowning.

  Conrad wondered whether or not it was safe for this many people to gather in broad daylight. It was true that the GC had scaled back their Peacekeepers in the area. Most had been shipped to the Middle East.
But citizens loyal to Nicolae Carpathia received cash for every unmarked citizen they captured or killed, and Conrad felt antsy. When Enoch suggested they move to the inner court of the empty mall, he felt better.

  Enoch took a flurry of questions from the group.

  Charlie started it all by asking, “When’s it gonna happen?”

  Enoch said he believed today was the day, then was interrupted by a woman in the back holding a tiny TV. “Look like somebody done took over the GC’s airwaves again. That Micah guy runnin’ things at Petra is gonna speak about what comes next.”

  Darrion and some others pulled out their little TVs.

  “Should we listen, Brother Enoch?” the woman said. “Will you be offended?”

  “Hardly,” Enoch said, taking out his own TV. “What could be better than this? Dr. Rosenzweig is a scholar’s scholar. Let’s have church.”

  “Why don’t we line up the TVs on that bench and turn up the volume so everyone can hear?” Conrad said.

  “Wonder what old Nicolae thinks of this broadcast,” Darrion said.

  Dr. Rosenzweig was just beginning when they turned up the volume. He sat at a table with a Bible open before him.

  “I speak to you tonight probably for the last time before the Glorious Appearing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ the Messiah,” Chaim said. “He could very well come during this message, and nothing would give me greater pleasure. When he comes there will be no more need for us to fight Antichrist and his False Prophet. The work will have been done for us by the King of kings.

  “But as he did not return seven years to the minute from the signing of the covenant between Antichrist and Israel, many are troubled and confused.”

  Chaim continued, saying he believed Jesus would return before midnight, Israel Time. Then he spoke to those who had not accepted Jesus as Messiah.

  Conrad moved closer to the tiny screens when a Web site address appeared beneath Dr. Rosenzweig. Anyone making a decision for Christ was asked to let Chaim know about it.