Hunted (38 page)

“There used to be an oil-change place behind the garage. They leveled it after the disappearances, but since I owned the land, I just sealed it up without anybody knowing. Lamps are kerosene. I tapped onto an electric line for my computer and the freezer. Got enough food down here to feed you and your friends for quite a while.”

“Why haven't you taken Carpathia's mark?”

Clemson scowled. “He's creepy, don't you think? All that coming back from the dead business. Killin' people for not puttin' one of his tattoos on. I'm gonna ride this one out—that's what I'm going to do.”

“Have you seen anything about Dr. Ben-Judah on the Web?”

“Yeah, I've read some of his stuff. I don't mind tellin' ya I'm not into religion. I try to live a good life and help people, but I don't go in much for church and all that Jesus stuff, if you know what I mean.”

Vicki watched the squad car race down the hill and take the turns way too fast. She thought the car would flip, but the driver slowed enough around curves to keep it on the road. Up ahead, the sun cast a golden glow. The car sped up to a frightening speed, but before it could reach the shade of some trees ahead, it spun out. From Vicki's perch she saw little puffs of smoke come from each tire.

The squad car came to rest in the middle of the road, blocking both lanes. To her horror, a large truck pulling a huge tank bore down on them from the other direction. The truck tried to stop, but its tires were melting before her eyes, the wheels sliding on the road like melting chocolate donuts.

The two officers jumped from their vehicle a second before the truck collided with the car. An explosion rocked the valley, sending a ball of flame into the air, and the officers fell. One finally stood, thrusting a fist toward the sky before his body was consumed in flames.

Vicki fell to her knees in horror. She covered her face as the smoke and smell of the fire reached her. “God, help me get back to Ryan and Cheryl and the others and let them be all right.”

Mark knew Clemson was in serious trouble. He had avoided the Global Community and stayed out of sight from others in the town, but he had no protection from the plagues. Mark discovered the man had been stung by one of the locusts, which had entered through an air vent, but he had obviously avoided the deadly horsemen and hadn't been affected by the wrath of the Lamb earthquake.

“Look, I need to tell you some important stuff, things that will save your life, but I have to check on my friends. Would you mind keeping my little buddy here until I get back?”

“Not a problem,” Clemson said. He pulled out a pack of gum and held it up.

“He's too young for that. He just swallows it.”

“Right. Well, let me think what else I have here… .”

“Do you sing?” Mark said.

Clemson furrowed his brow. “What kind of question is that?”

“He likes ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' and ‘Hush, Little Baby.' ”

“Twinkle!” Ryan said.

Clemson laughed, the corners of his eyes wrinkling with delight. “I can give you my country version of that, if you don't mind. Maybe even a little ‘You Are My Sunshine'?”

“Sunshine!” Ryan said.

Ryan went to Clemson with his arms outstretched. He seemed fascinated with the man's long beard and pulled at it. “You know how long it's been since I laughed out loud, little guy?”

“Thanks for doing this,” Mark said, “but I have to warn you. Don't go outside. Don't even go near the opening. The sun's going to be really hot, and it'll no doubt burn you.”

“We'll be all right.”

When Mark opened the trapdoor, sunlight flooded into the hidden room. He smelled smoke and heard dry weeds crackling. The last thing he heard before he closed the trapdoor was the warbly sound of Clemson's voice softly singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

Vicki jogged down the hillside as the sun came over the mountain. She expected everything to burst into flames around her, but it didn't. A small stream flowing past the road bubbled and hissed as steam rose, but trees only a few yards away seemed unaffected. Plastic mailboxes melted and pooled on the ground, basketball backboards wilted like dead flowers, and electric lines strung overhead snapped. Vicki had to be careful that she didn't go near any of the downed wires or get hit by falling debris.

Rushing toward town, she noticed another eerie sound overhead. She finally spotted an airplane flying just over the tops of some trees. With its wings on fire, the small plane looked like it was trying to land. Suddenly, the engine's whine stopped, a wing broke off, and the aircraft plunged. It disappeared in some trees, and another explosion rocked the hillside.

Vicki wiped sweat from her forehead and kept running.

Mark made it to the street where Tom, Marshall, and Cheryl sat and gasped when the female officer pointed her gun at them. Buildings behind the woman blocked the sunshine, but from the sweat stains on the woman's shirt, Mark knew she was feeling the heat. A GC squad car squealed to a stop near the group, and a mustached officer jumped out, yelling at the woman. Mark wasn't close enough to hear, but he figured the man knew they had only a few minutes to get away.
But where's Vicki?

The woman keyed her radio and called for the other officers, but they didn't answer.

Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the valley, and a plume of smoke and fire rose into the sky from the east. Mark was close enough now to hear some of the conversation. It sounded like Marshall Jameson and Tom Fogarty were urging the GC officers to find shelter in one of the nearby buildings.

A buzzing from overhead distracted the group, and Mark saw a small plane with its wings on fire trying desperately to land. It disappeared behind the buildings, and seconds later they heard the explosion.

“This must be another judgment from God!” Marshall said. “You need to get out of here—”

“You want us to leave so you can get away,” Officer Mustache said. “All of you get up and into the car now.”

Something on the hillside distracted Mark. An empty car burst into flames, sending a shower of sparks into the air. Mark panicked. He knew his friends were protected from the plague, but what if they were in a car with unbelievers?

Before he could do anything, the two officers had all three of his friends in the back of the squad car. A house on the hillside crackled, and the roof began to smoke.

Mark moved to his left, toward the main road. When the car was a few yards away, he ran into the road and waved wildly. The squad car was in sunlight, and Mark was afraid it might explode.

Officer Mustache honked his horn and swerved, trying to avoid hitting Mark, but Mark moved right in the car's path. The man slammed on his brakes and stopped a few inches away. Sweat poured from the man's face.

The female officer gasped for air, threw the door open, and drew her gun. “On the ground!” she screamed, her gun pointed at Mark's chest. Suddenly, she dropped the weapon and danced on the pavement like a child running from the tide at the beach. Her ponytail bounced behind her while she ran away from the car in circles. Finally, her hair sprouted flames, and she glowed like a human blowtorch.

Officer Mustache exited the car and immediately put a hand over his head. Sparks flew from his mustache, and he fell and rolled.

Mark turned away, unable to watch. The officers' screams faded quickly as their bodies were consumed. Mark opened the back doors, and his friends scooted out.

Vicki came upon the squad car and her four friends and couldn't help crying. The two GC officers lay at the side of the road in ash heaps. Vicki wiped away her tears and found the keys to the handcuffs near the female's body. Vicki released Cheryl, Tom, and Marshall before turning to Mark. “Where's Ryan?”

“Come on. I'll show you.”

They walked in silence through the town. A few streets over they heard screaming as more fires broke out. Vicki felt like she was walking through the fiery furnace, like the three Old Testament believers Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But this was no furnace—it was the real world burning at the hand of an angry God. Vicki couldn't help but think of hell. She knew there were some who believed it wasn't a real place, but the more she looked around, the more she was convinced that the Bible was true and that hell had to exist.

Mark led them to Clemson's hideout and opened the trapdoor. Vicki heard singing inside and smiled when she realized Ryan was picking up the words to “You Are My Sunshine.”

Vicki caught Cheryl's arm and told the others to go inside. Cheryl pulled away and said she needed to see Ryan.

“We need to talk first,” Vicki said.

Cheryl nodded and turned as Vicki closed the entrance. They walked to the middle of the empty lot, and Cheryl folded her arms. “I know what you're going to say, and I deserve whatever it is you guys have decided to do.”

“We haven't decided to
do
anything yet. I want to hear it from you—why did you lie to Wanda and take Ryan?”

Cheryl sat in the dirt and buried her head in her hands. “I was so jealous of what Josey had with Ryan. I had done all the work and had gone through all the pain, and she was getting the reward. That little boy was part of me. I felt him growing inside me. Being that close to him was just torture.”