Frantic (20 page)

“I put it in neutral and let the thing go,” Pete said, showing them his scratched-up arms. “Jumped out on the passenger side and rolled into a thicket.

“The GC were all over the place, scurrying around, dodging the locusts, and trying to see the truck. Fortunately it caught fire and—”

Pete was cut off by a transmission on the tiny radio he had taken from one of the Peacekeepers. “We'll head back to the gas station and set up a lookout there,” a man said.

“Where's Roger?” Pete said.

“He went to get everybody out of the cave,” Vicki said.

“He can't bring them back here,” Pete said. “We have to stop them.”

Judd tried to leave Pavel's apartment quietly, but Mr. Rudja stopped him. “Where are you going?”

“I have to meet a friend at the park,” Judd said.

“Sit,” Mr. Rudja said. The man poured a cup of coffee and leaned against the kitchen counter. “My son does not have much longer to live. The doctors are amazed he has held out this long.”

“I'm really sorry about—”

The man held up a hand. “I realize you took a great risk coming here, but we also have taken a great risk bringing you. One slip, one mistake could mean being found out by the Global Community.”

“I understand,” Judd said. “I looked in on Pavel. He's resting.”

“Who is it you're meeting?”

“A girl.”

The man smiled. “Ah, even in the middle of the end of the world our hearts can be stirred. . . .”

Judd chuckled nervously. “I guess, sir.”

“The park is a ten-minute walk,” he said, pointing out the window. “If you're not back in an hour, I'll send someone—”

“I'll be back,” Judd said.

The streets were nearly deserted. Every road seemed to sparkle. Glass buildings reflected the sunlight.

The park looked like Judd's idea of the Garden of Eden. There were immense trees imported from various countries. Vines, ivy, and moss hung from branches and grew on rock walls. Ponds were stocked with exotic fish from every part of the world. Colored gravel filled a jogging path that passed a lush, green field. He spotted Nada at a bench and ran to greet her.

Nada stood and hugged Judd, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for coming. I didn't know what to do.”

Judd sat. “What's up?”

“I was questioned by a woman from the Global Community as soon as I went inside. She wanted to know why I hadn't been stung, why my family hadn't responded to the letter the potentate sent about my brother's death, all kinds of things.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I was creative,” Nada said with a smile, “but it's the girl I'm rooming with that has me stumped. She's loyal to Carpathia, but she's asking questions about God.”

“Might be a trap.”

“Her name is Kweesa Darjonelle,” Nada said. “She knew my brother. I think they dated. He told her things that made her think he wasn't completely loyal to the GC.”

Judd sat up. “You mean, he may have been a believer?”

“I don't know. Before he died, Kasim told me Carpathia wasn't all he said he was. I never even thought he might have believed.”

“What did this Kweesa want to know?”

“She kept probing, asking what my brother was like at home, what my parents believed about Carpathia. That made me nervous.”

“It should,” Judd said.

“Then she handed me this.” Nada pulled out a tiny computer from her handbag. “Kasim left it at her apartment the night before the earthquake.”

Judd opened the computer.

“It doesn't work,” Nada said. “Kweesa said there's something wrong with the power supply.”

“There may be a clue in here,” Judd said. “Why hasn't Kweesa been stung?”

“She hasn't gone out of her building. There's an underground tunnel from her apartment to her office.”

“The GC are smarter than we think.”

“She asked me this morning if I knew anything about Tsion Ben-Judah,” Nada said.

“What did you tell her?”

“I didn't know what to say. I kept thinking maybe this is someone I need to tell the truth to. She seems sincere.”

“But if they link you to me, and me to Pavel and his dad . . .” Judd looked around. He couldn't expose Pavel and his father.

“I wasn't followed,” Nada said. She took a breath. “I think I'm going to tell her the truth.”

“I admire your faith,” Judd said, “but don't talk yet. Wait and see what else she asks.”

Judd glanced at a nearby building and saw two GC Peacekeepers with binoculars. One pressed his hand to an earpiece.

“Gotta go,” Judd said. “I'll look this computer over and get back with you soon.”

“Wait!” Nada said, but Judd was already on the jogging path, heading back to Pavel's apartment.

Vicki tried to keep up with Pete as they ran through the night. They found Roger leading a group down the hill. When Roger saw Pete, he nearly fainted. Pete told him the news and said, “You have to get back there.”

“What are you going to do?” Roger said.

“Our truck's gone. We'll have to hide until we can find some new wheels.”

An older woman stepped forward. “I have a pretty big house with a barn behind it. I can take at least half of you all in.”

Several others chimed in and volunteered to keep people who lived too far away to walk home.

“As soon as I locate another truck,” Roger said, “I'll get in touch with you.”

“Good,” Pete said.

Vicki and a few others followed the woman through a valley and up another ridge. “My place is just on the other side of this mountain,” the woman said.

The sun was almost up when they arrived, and Vicki was exhausted.

About twenty people crowded into the woman's kitchen as she started breakfast and assigned rooms. Conrad went to the barn with a few teenage boys. Vicki and Shelly said they were too tired to eat and made their way to a musty, downstairs room with bunk beds. Vicki sneezed and pulled the covers over her head. Finally, she fell asleep.

The gasoline smell was so strong that Mark and the others at the schoolhouse were forced to sleep outside. Charlie kept an eye on Janie and Melinda.

The next morning the kids got to work hosing down the upstairs room. The kids voted to put Janie and Melinda downstairs where they wouldn't be able to harm themselves or anyone else.

Darrion helped Charlie and Lenore study the Bible. The kids prayed for Vicki, Judd, and the others and asked God to protect them from the Global Community. Charlie prayed, “Please bring Vicki back so she can see I've finally understood what you did for me.”

Over the next few days, Judd watched Pavel's health grow worse. The boy had trouble breathing and could hardly sit up. Judd tried to start the computer Nada had given him but couldn't. Pavel asked to look at it. His skin was pale and his fingers thin as he turned the machine over.

“Looks like the solar panel,” Pavel said. “It's not getting power.” He showed Judd where to hook up a regular power supply. Within a few minutes the computer was working.

As Judd inspected different files, he noticed the daily entries of Nada's brother. “This is almost like a diary,” Judd said. He read a few entries to Pavel.

“ ‘I've been assigned duty at the potentate's headquarters tomorrow,' ” the boy wrote in an early entry. “ ‘I finally get to see things up close.*' ”

Judd was puzzled. “I wonder what that asterisk means. There's a bunch of them throughout the entries.”

“Let me see,” Pavel said. He raised his head and clicked through the file. “There are notes embedded in the text. Something he doesn't want anyone to see.” He fiddled with the tiny keyboard and a screen popped up. “It's asking for a password. Four letters.”

“What could be in those secret files?” Judd said.

Pavel shook his head and typed several words, then letters and numbers. He tried combinations using letters from the words
Global Community,
but each time the computer denied access.

“Sometimes people will use their own initials or birthdays or names of people they're close to,” Pavel said. “Makes it easy to remember. What's this guy's name?”

“Kasim,” Judd said. “I don't know his middle name.”

Pavel typed more words but came up with nothing.

“Wait,” Judd said, “his sister is Nada. Try that.”

Pavel typed in her name and the computer whirred. “Bingo!”

The document revealed nearly one hundred pages of single-spaced notes Kasim had written. Pavel scrolled down and Judd read over his shoulder.

“Nada came to the training camp today and embarrassed me,” Kasim wrote. “She's just as committed to her beliefs as I am to Nicolae Carpathia. I hope she'll see that she's wrong about him.”

“Can you find anything else about Nada in there?” Judd said.

Pavel did a word search and came up with several more sections with Nada's name. “Here, read it to me.”

Judd took the computer. “ ‘Talked with Nada today about the facilities here. There is so much luxury and wealth. My room is like a palace compared to back home. Why can't my family see the truth?' ”

Judd skipped to the last few pages of notes. “ ‘I talked with Nada tonight about seeing Leon Fortunato in the hallway of the building. It's exciting anytime I see someone famous, but I can't tell Nada what's really going on in my heart.' ”

Judd scrolled up and found passages that talked about Kasim's feelings for Kweesa. Kasim mentioned another friend named Dan. “ ‘Dan seems to know what's going to happen before it does. He thinks there's a big earthquake coming sometime soon. I've asked how he knows all this and he's been pretty cagey.' ”

The next entry talked about Dan wanting to meet with Kasim after they finished work the next day.

“What happened with that?” Pavel said.

Judd scrolled down and found the answer. “ ‘It was like talking to my family,' ” Kasim wrote. “ ‘Dan believes everything they do. I tried talking some sense into him, but he wouldn't budge. He gave me a Bible but I refused. I don't know what to do. He's working for the potentate but is totally against him. I am betraying what I believe by not exposing him, but I haven't exposed my family either. What should I do?' ”