Hunted (28 page)

26

AS LIONEL
improved over the next few weeks, Judd spent more time at the computer, reading
The Truth
, Sam's Petra Diaries, and anything else about the outside world. Judd was glad Lionel was making progress, but each time Judd saw him, he felt somehow betrayed, like Lionel had hurt himself to keep Judd away from Vicki. Of course, Judd knew this wasn't true, but something was going on inside him, a bitterness he knew had to be worked out.

Before the disappearances, Judd had felt this way about his parents. They were trying to hold him back, keep him from doing things, making his life hard.

Now Judd had a new perspective. His parents had tried to give him freedom and let him make his own decisions. At the time, Judd figured they had no clue about his bad decisions, including turning his back on the church and God. But now Judd wondered if they
had
known. Had they sensed the battle inside him?

Thinking of his parents reminded Judd of the good times. When he was young, there was the excitement of summer, baseball, campouts, and vacation trips. Fall meant school, football, raking leaves, and preparing for the holidays. Winter was Christmas, snowball fights, skiing, and hockey. And spring meant baseball, heading outside, and planning for summer. The seasons had led from one to another in perfect sequence. It was part of the rhythm of life Judd took for granted.

But since the disappearances, those seasons had been interrupted. He used to be concerned about the weather and was bummed if it rained. Now he and the others stayed inside, scared to go out for fear of the Global Community. They did things at night, and Judd began to appreciate nocturnal animals and studied their living habits.

As the temperature turned colder, then plummeted severely, he resigned himself to staying in Ohio with their new friends. There was no way he and Lionel could set out on foot, and taking a vehicle was too dangerous. His trip north was on hold.

During this “underground season” as Judd called it, he looked forward to two things: writing or talking with Vicki and communicating with anyone else outside their group. Judd loved sending e-mails to Sam in Petra. He wrote Rayford Steele in San Diego and Chang Wong in New Babylon.

He also enjoyed writing Zeke in Wisconsin and hearing another perspective of things going on there. Zeke emailed texts of devotional messages by Marshall Jameson, and Judd was impressed by the tough issues he tackled. Marshall addressed becoming discouraged while being cooped up, fear of the Global Community, anger at God for making them go through the horrors of the Tribulation, and more. The one Judd was most interested in was a weeklong message Marshall had given on marriage. Several days were devoted to how husbands and wives were supposed to treat each other, but Marshall had begun by talking about whether it was good or bad to be focused on romantic relationships during such a terrible time.

The words challenged Judd to think more about Vicki, and they exchanged several e-mails about the material. What would a romance between Judd and Vicki do to their main purpose of spreading God's truth? Would it in any way take away from that goal, or would they be more effective together?

As Judd thought about the questions, an e-mail from Chang Wong in New Babylon arrived.
I wanted you to hear this for yourself
, Chang wrote.
I ran across it and think it shows the kind of evil we're up against
.

Judd opened the audio file and recognized the voices of Nicolae Carpathia and Leon Fortunato.

“If your wizards can do all these tricks, Leon, why can they not turn a whole sea back into salt water?”

“Excellency, that is a lot to ask. You must admit that they have done wonders for the Global Community.”

“They have not done as much good as the Judah-ites have done bad, and that is the only scorecard that counts!”

“Your Worship, not to be contrary, but you are aware that Carpathian disciples all over the world have raised the dead, are you not?”

“I raised
myself
from the dead, Leon. These little tricks, bringing smelly corpses from graves just to amaze people and thrill the relatives, do not really compete with the Judah-ites', do they?”

“Turning wooden sticks into snakes? Impressive. Turning water to blood and then back again, then the water to wine? I thought you would particularly enjoy that one.”

“I want converts, man! I want changed minds! When is your television debate with Ben-Judah?”

“Next week.”

“And you are prepared?”

“Never more so, Highness.”

“This man is clever, Leon.”

“More than you, Risen One?”

“Well, of course not. But you must carry the ball. You must carry the day! And while you are at it, be sure to suggest to the cowardly sheep in Petra that an afternoon of miracles is planned, almost in their backyard, for later that same day.”

“Sir, I had hoped we could test the area first.”

“Test the area? Test the
area?”

“Forgive me, Excellency, but where you have directed me to have a disciple stage that spectacle is so close to where we lost ground troops and weapons and where we have been unsuccessful in every attempt to interrupt their flying missions, not to mention where, my goodness, we dropped two bombs and a—”

“All right, I
know
what has gone on there, Leon! Who does not?! Test it if you must, but I want it convenient to those people. I want them filing out of that Siq and gathering for
our
event for a change. And when they see what my creature can do, we will start seeing wholesale moves from one camp to the other. You know who I want for that show, do you not?”

“Your best? I mean, one of your—”

“No less. Our goal should be to leave Petra a ghost town!”

“Oh, sir, I—”

“When did you become such a pessimist, Leon? We call you the Most High Reverend Father of Carpathianism, and I have offered myself as a living god, risen from the dead, with powers from on high. Yours is merely a sales job, Leon. Remind the people what their potentate has to offer, and watch them line up. And we have a special, you know.”

“A special, sir?”

“Yes! We are running a special! This week only, anyone from Petra will be allowed to take the mark of loyalty with no punishment for having missed the deadline, now long since past. Think of the influence they can have on others just like them.”

“The fear factor has worked fairly well, Potentate.”

“Well, it
is
sort of a no-more-Mr.-Nice-Guy campaign, one would have to admit. But the time is past for worrying about my image. By now if people do not know who I am and what I am capable of, it is too late for them. But some blow to the other side, some victory over the curse of the bloody seas—that can only help. And I want you to do well against Ben-Judah, Leon. You are learned and devout, and you ask for worship of a living, breathing god who is here and who is not silent. It takes no faith to believe in the deity of one you can see on television every day. I should be the easy, convenient, logical choice.”

“Of course, Majesty, and I shall portray you that way.”

The conversation sent a chill down Judd's spine. Who was this creature Carpathia mentioned, and what would he do? Was there no end to Carpathia's evil? Judd prayed for Sam Goldberg and his friend who was not yet a believer. He asked God to help convince more people to turn to the true and living God.

There was excitement in Petra as Sam met with Abdullah to pray for Lev and his family. Sam found Abdullah singing near his tent, getting ready for the meeting that would beam Tsion's face via satellite to debate Leon Fortunato. Abdullah was hopeful that this would change many minds, but he was also excited about a flight he was making for the International Commodity Co-op.

“I think this trade we are about to make,” Abdullah said, “is so big, only God could pull it off.”

Sam smiled and the two began praying. Over the past few weeks, prayer had become more to Sam than simply telling God what he wanted. Sam was being drawn into something deeper, a reliance and trust in God that he couldn't explain. When Sam brought Lev, his family, and his other concerns to God, Sam felt God not only heard his requests but also took them like a weight from his shoulders. While Sam met with Lev later, he noticed he didn't feel as heavyhearted. He could simply talk naturally with his friend and show an interest in him.

The afternoon of the debate, Sam walked to Lev's home but couldn't find him. He asked a woman nearby where the Taubman family was, and she pointed and shook her head. “I don't know why the rabbi puts up with such people.”

Sam climbed down to an area leading out of the city and spotted a gathering of thousands. Tsion Ben-Judah and Chaim Rosenzweig were trying to quiet them. None of the people had the mark of the believer.

Sam noticed Lev's father and sister, who moved toward the front. “As soon as this debate is over, we're leaving here for a few hours to hear another speaker,” Mr. Taubman said. “He will be right close by, and many believe he is the Christ. Jesus come back to earth to perform miracles and explain the future!”

Chaim stepped forward. “Please! You must not do this! Do you not know you are being deceived? You know of this only through the evil ruler of this world and his False Prophet. Stay here in safety. Put your trust in the Lord!”

Another man yelled something Sam couldn't hear. Then Tsion and Chaim continued pleading with the people. Chaim went so far as to say that these people were being used by the evil one to create chaos in the camp.

Lev's father raised a fist and pushed forward. “You take too much upon you. Why do you put yourselves above the congregation?”

Sam rushed into the crowd, keeping his eyes on Lev, who was with his mother in the middle of the throng. As he hurried forward, Tsion spoke. “The Lord knows who are his and who is holy. For what cause do you and all those gathered here speak against the Lord? And why would you murmur against Chaim?”

The shouting continued, and Sam reached Lev and caught his arm. “You have to come with me. You and your whole family.”

“I can't leave now,” Lev said. “Listen, my father is speaking.”

“We will not stand with you,” Lev's father said. “Is it a small thing that you have taken us from our motherland, our homes where we had plenty, and brought us to this rocky place where all we have to eat is bread and water, and you set yourself up as a prince over us?”

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was just like the children of Israel in the Old Testament, crying out to Moses in the wilderness. Sam sensed something terrible was about to happen, but he couldn't leave his friend. He pleaded with Lev and Mrs. Taubman. “Come with me to the rocky place where you can see better.”

Lev and his mother hesitated, then followed.

Sam glanced at Tsion Ben-Judah. The words of Lev's father and the others seemed to wound the man so much that he cried out to God. “Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do. I have neither set myself over them nor demanded anything from them except respect for you.”

Sam pulled Lev and his mother onto a ledge just as Tsion looked over the crowd and said, “God is telling Chaim and me to separate ourselves from you to save ourselves from his wrath.”

People shouted at Tsion and Chaim. Many fell on their faces and cried out. Some stood and shook their fists. Sam couldn't hear their words, but he had a sick feeling.

Lev yelled for his father. The man glanced at the boy, shook his head, and glared. His sister screamed angrily at Tsion. Lev took a step toward his father, but Sam stopped him.

Tsion quieted the crowd and spoke gravely. “Unless you agree with these, it would do well for you to depart from the presence of these wicked men, lest you be consumed in all their sins. From this point on, let it be known that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; I do not do them in my own interest. If these men do what is in their minds to do and God visits a plague of death on them, then all shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.”

When Tsion finished, the rocks trembled. Lev and his mother fell back, and Sam grabbed them as a great hole opened under hundreds of people. The angry men and women were swallowed immediately, falling into a deep cavern. Lev's father and sister screamed and plunged down, their arms waving as they fell. The wails echoed from the enormous hole, and just as suddenly as the earth had opened, it closed, and the people inside disappeared.

Thousands scattered, screaming as they ran. Lev shook with fear and his mother yelled, “Get out, before we're killed too!”

Before Sam could stop them, the two had crawled over another ledge and ran for their home. Tsion and Chaim prayed together at the front.

Sam looked back again and watched Lev keep his mother from falling. “Please, God, I pray you won't let their hearts be hardened by this. Lev and Mrs. Taubman still have a chance to believe your truth. Help Tsion as he debates Leon Fortunato. May something he says stir their hearts. And help me to reach out before it is too late.”