Hunted (19 page)

Lionel waved the flashlight, trying to catch the eyes again. A shrill sound split the night.
The cell phone!
Lionel reached for it but knocked it away. He strained, popping something in his left arm. He screamed in pain, then grabbed the phone. When he caught his breath, he pushed the receive button. “Hello?”

“Judd? It's Chang.”

Lionel told Chang where Judd was and what had happened.

“I'm surprised you're still able to talk,” Chang said. “Have you taken anything for the pain?”

“We didn't bring any medicine.”

Chang asked for his location and punched in the coordinates on his computer. “I have to be careful about how much I try to do these days. They're still after that pesky mole in the palace.” He clicked the keyboard and sighed. “The closest group of believers is where you've just come from. But …”

“What is it?”

A few more clicks. “Oh no.”

“Tell me what you see.”

“Do you have any way to get in touch with Judd?”

“No. I have the phone with me.”

“The Global Community is conducting a midnight raid on that group. Judd could be walking into a trap.”

Lionel's heart beat wildly. “We have to pray he sees them before he gets there.”

Chang prayed and said he would check in later. The phone call had sapped Lionel's strength, and he wondered what had popped in his arm. He reached for the belt Judd had tightened and felt blood, but it seemed thicker. He put his head on the backpack, closed his eyes, and thought about the people in Salem. He and Judd had stayed with them longer than anyone else on their trip north, and though tempers had flared at times because of the close quarters, Lionel had a deep respect and love for the people.

Lionel imagined the GC storming the place, finding the hideout, and hauling the people out one by one. The GC loved torching things during their raids to destroy evidence and instill fear in believers. With the vigilante law in effect, his friends would be unable to escape.

A sickening thought raced through Lionel's mind. Had he and Judd been the reason the group was discovered? Had someone seen them stealing away earlier and called the Global Community? The idea turned Lionel's stomach.

Something moved to Lionel's right, and he grabbed the flashlight. A flash of red. Two eyes darted through the bushes and were gone.

Then something hissed to his right. Judd had said something about a snake when he was coming down the hill. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks. Maybe the whole thing—

Hiss
…

Lionel slowly turned his head and came face-to-face with a coiled snake, only a few inches from his face.

18

LIONEL
froze in horror. He had never liked snakes. When he was a kid, he couldn't bring himself to touch a page with a snake's picture on it. He'd had nightmares of hundreds of snakes writhing in his front yard. Those dreams sent him to his mom and dad's room quicker than the noise reducer sent Ronnie to the bathroom.

Lionel was close enough to see the snake's tongue slither in and out of its mouth. He looked at its eyes and thought of the nature show he had seen that said you could tell if a snake was poisonous by the shape of its head. The snake didn't rattle, but the markings were strange. Perhaps it was a copperhead.

The thing is probably looking for food
, Lionel told himself.
He'll realize I'm too big and go away
.

The snake inched closer, angling toward the rock and Lionel's trapped arm.

“Nice snake,” Lionel whispered, then rolled his eyes.
I'm talking to the thing like it's a puppy
.

The snake's head pulled back a few inches, and Lionel was sure it would strike. He closed his eyes and fumbled for the flashlight or phone, anything to throw.

Movement in the bush startled him, and a small animal jumped out and danced around the snake, pawing and nipping.
A fox!
The snake retreated, trying to find safety under the huge rock, but the fox hopped forward, blocking its way and dodging the snake's strikes.

Lionel wanted to cheer the fox on, but he was afraid it would scare the animal. Instead, he lay still and watched the action, silently praying.

The fox chased its enemy to the hillside and out of sight, but Lionel wondered if the snake was really gone. He had always heard that snakes don't attack people unless you enter their territory, but he'd never believed it.

He closed his eyes and took a breath. Though he hadn't moved, the excitement of the encounter had raised his heart rate. His skin glistened with sweat, and the cool air of the early morning gave him a chill.

The fox returned, sniffing at the air by the rock and licking its paws. The animal was thin and wiry, and Lionel could see its hipbones sticking out. The fox didn't pay attention to Lionel, as if this heroic act were a normal part of its day.

“Hey, boy, thanks for the help,” Lionel whispered.

The fox looked up. Lionel expected it to bolt, but it just stared at him. Lionel picked up the sandwich, and the fox darted backward toward the hill, then slowly sniffed at the air.

“I have something for you, if you want it. It's not much, but it's all I have. You want it?” Lionel held out the sandwich, hoping the fox would approach.

Instead, it sat, studying the food and the teenager. It put its front paws on the ground and stretched.

Suddenly, Lionel felt a wave of pain and nausea. Whether it was the adrenaline rush of the encounter with the snake or too much blood loss he couldn't tell, but he felt tired and cold. He draped the backpack over him just before he lost consciousness.

Vicki talked with Marshall by phone, the man giving instructions for what they should do. Mark was driving to the midwife's house, and they were still a few miles away. “Make Cheryl as comfortable as possible,” Marshall said. “We'll call as soon as we find her.”

“Her water broke, and she's feeling a lot of pressure,” Vicki said.

Marshall paused. “So she's further along than we thought. Okay, Wanda doesn't use a phone, but she might be by her computer. Write her.”

Vicki found the address for the midwife and quickly wrote a message, asking if there was anything more they could do for Cheryl. As she waited, Vicki noticed reports about miracle workers from around the world. These were the new breed of Nicolae's messiahs, changing water to wine, healing the sick, and doing various magic tricks to confuse the world.

A return message from Wanda came a few minutes later.

Your friend is going to want to push, but don't let her. The passage the baby has to come through has to dilate—or open up enough for the baby's head to come through. There's a chance she could be ready, but from what you've said I doubt it. I can tell you how to check, but I'd rather be there. Get a watch and figure out how many minutes between contractions. Your friends in the car should be close to me. If they have a phone, I'll call you from the road
.

Wanda

Vicki borrowed Conrad's watch and hurried back to Cheryl. When a contraction came, her stomach tightened, she closed her eyes and grabbed whatever was near. The first contraction lasted about forty-five seconds. Vicki pressed the stopwatch button and counted.

One minute.

Josey put another pillow behind Cheryl and encouraged her to relax until the next contraction.

Two minutes.

Vicki watched the timer count up, praying more time would pass before the pain began again.

Three minutes.

Shelly took Vicki's arm in hers. “Are you ready to become Aunt Vicki?”

Vicki forced a smile. “Aunt Vicki is fine. I'm just not ready for Dr. Vicki.”

“Ow, ow, ow!” Cheryl screamed. “Here it comes again!”

Vicki glanced at the watch. Three minutes, twenty-eight seconds.

Lionel opened his eyes slowly. It was still dark, but he had no idea how long he had been asleep. Five minutes? An hour? A slight wind blew from the east and he shivered.

The fox was close, sniffing at the sandwich in Lionel's hand. Lionel remained still and watched the animal inch forward like a hungry pup. It licked at the peanut butter and backed away, then moved forward again and took a bite. When it came back for more, Lionel let go, and the fox pulled the sandwich near the rock and devoured it.

“Hope you enjoy that,” Lionel whispered. “You deserve it.”

Lionel felt strangely comforted by the animal and wondered if God had sent it. Could an angel appear as a fox? He shook his head. The loss of blood was even affecting his theology.

Lionel tried to think of a verse that applied to his situation. There was something in the Psalms about God being a refuge in times of trouble. In other places it described God as a rock, but Lionel didn't want to think about that. He reached for his left arm again and noticed the blood was almost dry. The tourniquet had worked.

He sipped some water and watched the fox lick its lips. The sandwich was gone, and there was nothing to keep the animal near. Still, it stayed, and Lionel was grateful.

As soon as Judd had gotten past the hill and the stream, he quickened his pace and ran toward Salem over the path they had followed. Normally, he and Lionel watched the compass and headed northwest, making sure they stayed in the woods or other places with few people. The jog back seemed unfamiliar, but Judd knew he was going in the right direction. When he finally reached the edge of town, he got his bearings and headed for the hideout.

Judd prayed for Lionel as he ran. What had begun as the last leg of their journey had turned into a nightmare. In the past few months two of his friends had died at the hands of the Global Community. Chang Wong, his contact in New Babylon, constantly lived under the pressure of being watched inside Nicolae Carpathia's palace. The farther Judd ran, the angrier he became at Carpathia, GC Peacekeepers, Morale Monitors, bounty hunters, and Satan himself.

Judd stopped by a tree a hundred yards from the hideout and caught his breath. He realized he was angry, not just at the evil around him but also at God for allowing it. The whole thing was somehow part of God's plan, but Judd didn't understand it.

A sudden flash in the distance caught his attention. Judd studied the landscape in the moonlight and figured it was the reflection of headlights on a window. He moved into the open pasture, angling toward a barn and running close to the ground.

A single beam of light swept over the field. Judd hit the ground immediately and rolled, trying to find a low point. The beam swept over him just as he spun into a dip in the field.

Judd wondered who would be out at this time of night. He waited a few minutes, listening for voices, but only heard cars in the distance. When enough time had gone by, he peeked toward the light but saw nothing. He rose and darted toward the barn. Suddenly, a radio crackled and Judd's heart sank. He reached the barn and put his back flat against the outside wall. He was in shadows and felt safer, but he had to get a look at the safe house.

He crept through shadows inside the barn. Though it still smelled of hay and animals, it was empty, save for an old hay baler and some rusted plows. He climbed into the loft, the soft moonlight shining through the weathered boards.