Shaken (16 page)

Lionel walked slowly toward the two witnesses. They still wore sackcloth robes and looked like the picture of John the Baptist in Lionel's first Bible. They had dark, leathery skin, and their feet were dirty. Their bony hands stuck out of their clothes like sticks, and their long gray hair and beards floated in the breeze.

Each time Lionel had seen the two witnesses in televised reports, there were crowds of curious onlookers and GC guards nearby. Now there were only dead bodies near them.

Lionel wondered if the two would notice him. If they did, would they speak to him?

Eli turned his head slightly and said, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in him!”

Moishe, without moving his lips, raised his voice. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”

Eli stood and motioned for Lionel to come further. “‘The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.'”

Lionel thought of Judd and Nada's family. Could these two prophets of God be giving him a message for them?

“Comfort one another with these words,” Moishe said. Lionel sighed and inched closer. “If you'll permit me to ask a question?”

The two stared past Lionel. Finally, Eli moved his head a few inches.

“I know the Bible says you're going to prophesy for a set time. What happens after that?”

Eli and Moishe spoke together. “As it is written, ‘And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days.'”

“ ‘When they finish their testimony,'” Eli said alone, “‘the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.'”

The two witnesses fell silent, with sad looks on their faces. Finally, Moishe said, “Take heed. The god of this world seeks the death of those who follow the true and living God. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

“The beginning and ending are written in the book,” Eli said. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly divining the word of truth.”

Eli and Moishe sat. Lionel could tell his time was up. He didn't know what to do, so he bowed, said thank you, and left.

As Lionel walked to Yitzhak's house, he thought about Eli's and Moishe's faithfulness to God. He slipped inside the house unnoticed and looked up the first news report about the witnesses. Carefully counting the number of days, Lionel calculated when the 1,260th day would be. He studied a calendar and gasped.

Mark Eisman watched Vicki and the others drive away. He climbed a brick wall near the arena to survey the area. Bodies littered the plaza and fire licked at buildings. A gas station a few blocks away was nothing but a hole in the ground.

Mark walked back into the arena. The screen was blank and the auditorium empty, except for dead bodies. Through a window he noticed the satellite truck. He ran outside, keeping watch for Peacekeepers or Morale Monitors, and climbed behind the wheel.

He picked up a cell phone on the seat and punched a few numbers. After several rings a man answered and said, “Satcom headquarters.”

“Carl Meninger, stat!” Mark said.

Vicki and the others were exhausted when they pulled up to the schoolhouse. Lenore made them all sit and tell what had happened while she made dinner.

Charlie stood. “What's that rumbling?”

Vicki went to the window. A cloud of dust rose from the secret entrance to the hideout.

Janie rushed into the kitchen. “Is it the smoke and fire again?”

“I don't think so,” Vicki said. She ran outside and gasped as a satellite truck pulled in front of the schoolhouse.

Conrad gave a low whistle. “Cool.”

Vicki shook her head. “Not cool.”

Mark jumped out. “I know what you're thinking. Just hear me out.”

Vicki crossed her arms. “We agreed we weren't going to steal GC property.”

“That's the good news. This truck doesn't even exist. Carl got into the computer at headquarters. This thing was destroyed in the attack.”

“How could it be destroyed if we have it?” Charlie said.

“They'll never look for it,” Mark said.

Conrad ran to the back of the truck and opened the door. “Hey, guys, come see this!”

“We know,” Vicki said. “The latest technology and—”

“No,” Conrad said, glancing at Mark. “Didn't you inspect this?”

“Inspect it for what?”

Conrad opened both doors. The truck was filled with video monitors and complex electronic equipment. On the floor lay someone dressed in a Morale Monitor's uniform.

Conrad looked at Vicki. “She's still alive.”

15

VICKI
stared at the girl and shook her head. She couldn't believe Mark had endangered them this way.

Mark put his hands in the air. “I didn't know she was here. Honestly, I'd never—”

“Doesn't matter now,” Vicki said. “Let's get her inside.”

Conrad and Mark carried the girl upstairs and gently placed her on a cot. Lenore brought medical supplies.

“I know this girl,” Vicki said. “She's Marjorie something, the one who checked me into the arena.”

Lenore turned her name tag over. “Her last name is Amherst.”

Vicki nodded. “She was the valedictorian at Judd's graduation.”

“She's in bad shape,” Lenore said. “I'll work on her while you decide what to do if she wakes up.”

Vicki went downstairs and found Mark explaining his idea. Their friend Carl was preparing to uplink the kids on the GC satellite.

“How's Marjorie?” Melinda said.

Vicki gave them an update and told them who she was. Mark remembered her and said they had taken a couple of classes together. “She was always blowing the grading curve because she got such high scores. Everybody hated and admired her at the same time.”

“How could somebody so smart fall for Carpathia's lies?” Charlie said.

“The Bible says people will never find God through human wisdom,” Vicki said. “When we talk about Jesus dying for them, they think it's foolish.”

“You mean, you can't be smart and believe in God?” Charlie said.

“No. Look at Tsion Ben-Judah or Buck Williams. They're really smart.” Vicki picked up a Bible and turned to 1 Corinthians. “God picks things we wouldn't pick to show how great he is. He chose David even though he was a shepherd. He chose Jesus to be born in a stable to very poor parents.”

“So God does things backwards to the way we'd do them?” Charlie said.

“Yeah, in a lot of ways. Listen to this: ‘God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.'”

“I get it,” Charlie said. “People with a lot of brains can follow God as long as they understand God is smarter than their smartest ideas.”

The kids smiled and Vicki chuckled. “And it also means you can use all kinds of arguments, but people have to realize they have a problem only God can fix.”

“Sin,” Mark said.

“I thought I was pretty smart,” Darrion said. “When Ryan talked about God, I thought he was nuts. Somehow, God showed me I needed forgiveness.”

“Which brings us to Marjorie,” Vicki said.

Melinda frowned. “Sounds like she's really into the GC.”

“This is my fault,” Mark said. “If she recovers, we'll blindfold her and I'll drive her back in the satellite truck.”

“The one that doesn't exist?” Vicki said. “That'll tip off the GC, and we'll get Carl in trouble.”

“All right, I'll take her in the car.”

“Wait,” Melinda said. “Is that all we're going to do with her, just ship her back? You didn't do that with me. You guys were straight with me from the start.”

“That's because you were holding a gun,” Mark said.

“I think you would have told me the truth even if I hadn't been.”

“She's right,” Vicki said. “I don't want to pretend. We shoot straight with Marjorie, and if she wants to go back to the GC, we'll take her.”

“She might still be able to lead them to us,” Mark said.

“True, but she might also believe what we tell her,” Vicki said.

Lionel couldn't wait to tell about his meeting with Eli and Moishe, but he especially wanted to talk with Judd. He found everyone downstairs in Yitzhak's house with a new group of witnesses. Lionel described the meeting with Eli and Moishe, then pulled out a piece of paper.

“I've counted up the 1,260 days since Eli and Moishe first appeared. If I'm right, their final day will come during Carpathia's big celebration.”

“That's in less than three months,” Judd said.

Mr. Stein shook his head. “Perhaps that is the reason for the party. Carpathia will snuff out these precious lives, and everyone will praise him for ending the judgments.”

“They're really just beginning,” Lionel said.

A tall man with huge shoulders stood. He wore tattered clothing like Eli and Moishe, and spoke with a thick European accent.

“God has given us a wonderful tool in the Scriptures,” the man said. “We can read history ahead of time if we look to the Bible.”

“What's going to happen to the two prophets?” Sam said.

“Tsion Ben-Judah has written much about our friends at the Wailing Wall. If you examine the Bible, you see that God has given them power to pronounce judgment on his behalf.”

The man continued. “But their mission will end. The Bible says that one day they will complete their testimony, and the beast of this world will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem.”

“I don't want those guys to die,” Sam said. “We have to save them.”

“Everything has a purpose in the plan of God. After they die, no one will be allowed to bury them. People from all over the world will come to look at their bodies and celebrate. The people will even give presents to each other as they rejoice in the deaths of these two prophets.”

“How will Carpathia kill them?” Judd said.

“I'm not sure, but our friends will not stay dead. God will raise them to life.”

“I want to see that,” Sam said. “And I want to see the look on Carpathia's face when it happens.”

Lionel motioned for Judd and called Nada's family together. “I think Eli and Moishe gave me a message for you.”

“What do you mean?” Kasim said.

“Both of them quoted verses from the Psalms. They talked about God hearing the cries of the righteous. They said God's against those who do evil. And then they called me closer. The way Eli looked at me …” Lionel felt the tears coming as he looked at Nada's mother.