Hunted (23 page)

“He could lose the arm?”

“He's already lost it. The question is whether the rest of him will survive.”

Judd felt sick. Lionel's injury was Judd's fault. If only he hadn't sat on that boulder.

“I'll get my stuff and you can show me the way,” Dr.

Rose said.

“Why are you helping me? You're just endangering yourself, and for what?”

“I figure, if you've made it this far, and if you're willing to risk your life for your friend, you deserve a chance. The GC may catch you. That's none of my business. My job is to help anybody I find who's hurt.”

Judd stared into the man's eyes.
What other choice do I have?

“I'll get my stuff and meet you in the car.”

Judd stood from the table and froze as Princess growled.

“Princess, sit,” Dr. Rose said.

The dog sat.

“Princess, friend.”

The dog cocked his head, and Dr. Rose said the word
friend
again. To Judd's surprise, Princess stood on her hind legs, put her front paws on Judd's shoulders, and licked his face.

A few minutes later, Judd and the doctor were in the Humvee, heading for the woods. Judd asked to use the man's phone and dialed Lionel. It rang but there was no answer.

Dr. Rose turned on the radio to a GC report of a midnight raid on Judah-ites. He quickly switched it off.

“Before we got to your house, you mentioned you had a wife,” Judd said, breaking the silence. “What happened to her?”

“She disappeared. She was carrying our first child.”

“Were you with her at the time?”

Dr. Rose shook his head. “I was at the hospital. The whole place was crazy that night. Women with babies disappearing from their wombs. Patients freaking out because their roommates had vanished. Nurses were gone. The security guard's clothes were in a pile outside the emergency room.

“We started getting accident victims after that. Car accidents, that kind of thing. I called the house in the morning, but there was no answer. I figured my wife had gone to see her family, but they didn't answer either. I got home about three the next afternoon. Her car was in the garage, but she wasn't at the house. I finally found her nightgown in the bed upstairs. She was gone.”

“What do you think happened?”

Dr. Rose shook his head. “I've heard all the theories, but it doesn't matter. They're not coming back.”

“I know where they are.”

Dr. Rose rolled his eyes. “Are you sure you want to risk preaching to me? I might turn you in.”

Judd pointed the way past the safe house.

After a few moments the doctor turned. “All right, tell me. Where do you think they are?”

“First, I'll guess about your wife. She was religious, right?”

“Not until the last few months.”

“Something happened that changed her, and she wanted you to change too.”

Dr. Rose shrugged. “I guess you could put it that way.”

“And the same thing happened to her family.”

“Her mom and dad were already religious wackos. Teri just bought into it a little late. How did you know?”

“It fits,” Judd said. “It's because they believed the same thing about Jesus that they were taken.”

“Right. And if you know all this, why are you still here?”

“My family was taken just like your wife and unborn baby.”

“I'm sorry.”

“I'd heard about God all my life. I never really took it seriously. Now I'm trying to tell as many as I can about the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That God loved you enough to die for you. That he made a way to come to him through his Son, Jesus.”

“Yeah, Teri listened to a Jesus station on the radio,” Dr. Rose said, furrowing his brow. “So what happens to us? Will we ever see them again?”

Judd pursed his lips. “Those who accept the gift God offers will see those who disappeared again. That's one of God's promises.”

Dr. Rose slammed on his brakes and slid to the right. Judd wore a seat belt, but he still went flying forward.

“That's what frosts me about you people. You're so sure about everything, and it's all in the future. Someday you'll do this, and someday God's going to make everything better. At least Carpathia does stuff for us right now.”

“Carpathia is the enemy of God. Those who follow him and take his mark—”

“What? They don't have a chance at your little after-death party?” He shifted and pulled back onto the road.

Judd recognized the street and some of the buildings. They were close to the turnoff where they would find Lionel. Judd didn't want to anger the doctor, but he didn't feel right about keeping quiet. “I'm telling you straight what I believe. I don't want you to get mad and turn me into the GC—”

“If I wanted to do that, believe me, your head would already be rolling on the ground.” He paused. “What's your Bible say about me?”

Judd took a breath. “Taking the mark of Nicolae and worshiping his image means you've made your choice.”

Dr. Rose gritted his teeth, but before he could speak, his beeper went off. He studied the number as he drove. “This could be a problem.”

He pulled the Humvee to the roadside and dialed a number. “This is Dr. Rose… . Yes … okay, but listen, I'm on an emergency… . No, I understand. I'll be right there.” He threw the car into gear and made a U-turn, cutting off an oncoming car.

“What's going on?”

“Emergency at the hospital. Some rebels ambushed a high-ranking GC official. They need me to patch him up.”

“Can't somebody else do it?”

“Head of the hospital picked me and wouldn't take no for an answer.”

“What about Lionel?”

“So that's his name, huh? Lionel will have to hold out until we can get to him.” Dr. Rose scowled. “Of course, if we don't get to him in time, God'll just take him to heaven, right?”

22

LIONEL
pulled the phone from his backpack and dialed Vicki. He needed to talk through his options with someone he loved. The phone was still wet, and Lionel couldn't see the readout on the phone's face.

“Must need more of a charge,” Lionel said, placing the phone on the ground. A cloud moved and the sun peeked through, but the phone was still in the shadow of the rock.

Lionel put his head back. His whole body ached. He had read the verse about Christians being members of a body, and that if one member hurt, the others did too. Lionel felt that verse with his back, neck, and ankle that he had hurt trying to get out of the rock's way. His right hand was scraped and crusted with blood. His hair felt like it was full of ants, though Lionel couldn't tell if bugs were really crawling on him or not.

Lionel pushed the phone as far away as he could, but he couldn't reach the sunshine.
Soon
, Lionel thought,
the sun will move this way and I'll call Vicki
.

Lionel had to think clearly. If Judd didn't return, what would he do? How long could he survive on the food and water left? And how long could he last if the sun beat down on him all day? He looked around for the second sandwich and unwrapped it.

Lionel remembered how his mom cut the edges from his sandwiches when he was little. Now, with his stomach growling, he devoured the crust. He made a quick inventory of his food and found one more sandwich, packages of crackers and potato chips, and a few cookies. He had four small bottles of water. That was enough to keep him going through the day. Judd would be back by evening unless …

Lionel watched a cotton-candy cloud float through the sky. He closed his eyes and looked again, studying the shape. It looked like a face, with two eyes and a nose. Suddenly, Lionel saw Nicolae Carpathia's face, the old devil himself looking down. Nicolae looked like he was laughing.

Lionel closed his eyes. More than ever, he knew he was in a battle. From the moment Lionel had prayed to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, he had stepped into a war, not of flesh and blood, but an unseen battle of good versus evil. Lionel had sensed it early. Satan and his followers must have loved it that Lionel lied to his parents about his faith, but after the disappearances, Lionel knew he had to respond to the truth of the Bible. That decision hurtled him into a daily struggle against the forces of evil.

But Lionel knew no matter how fierce the battle, he was on the winning side. The evil one would try to get him to fight with his own friends, whisper things to get him to doubt, but Lionel had to follow God and listen to him.

Lionel opened his eyes. The cloud was gone and he was glad. He looked around but saw no sign of the fox or snake. The rippling stream was soothing, but he also realized he had to go to the bathroom.

A rumbling stirred the peaceful scene. An engine revved. Was he imagining this or was it real?

Judd remained silent on the trip back to the hospital. He thought about asking the doctor to let him out, but someone would spot him in broad daylight. Judd said a quick prayer and ducked as Dr. Rose pulled into the parking lot. The man turned off the engine and took the keys from the ignition. “I don't suppose it'd be smart of you to go inside with me.”

“Unless you want to get me killed.”

Dr. Rose sighed. “Look, I'm sorry about your friend. I'll try to make this quick. Will you stay here?”

Judd nodded.

Dr. Rose handed him the keys. “Use these if you need to put the windows down. Don't take the car. I'll report you if you do, and the GC will be on you.” He got out and hurried toward the hospital.

Judd sat quietly in the backseat, watching the emergency entrance and counting the number of GC cruisers. All Dr. Rose had to do was tell one Peacekeeper and Judd was toast. He didn't like trusting anyone who wasn't a believer, but there was something about this man that made Judd think he wouldn't turn him in.

Judd wished he could call Vicki. He had promised to get in touch, but Lionel needed the phone more. Judd opened the glove compartment, pulled out the owner's manual, and found a diagram that led him to a storage compartment in the back. He studied the jack, wondering if it would move the giant rock.

Judd put the jack in the backseat and waited.
Am I doing the right thing staying here?

Vicki awoke around 9 A.M. and asked if anyone had called. Shelly shook her head. Vicki tried dialing Lionel but got a weird ring.

The baby, Ryan Victor, was sleeping when Vicki peeked in on him. Wanda had examined him and trimmed his cord. Cheryl was sleeping, so Vicki held the baby. Wanda paced the room, and Vicki asked if something was wrong.

“The baby's fine,” Wanda whispered. “Really healthy, even though he's a little early. He's nursing and getting enough to eat. I'm concerned about the mother. The birth took a lot out of her. If she were in a hospital they'd have given her an IV with lots of fluid. She can't stay awake long enough to eat or drink anything.”

“What could that be?”

“Might be that she's just tired. I'm hoping that's all it is and that we'll get her through this.” She put a hand on Vicki's shoulder. “You need to motivate her.”

“I don't understand.”

Wanda sat and patted the bench for Vicki to join her. The baby stuck out his tongue and made a sucking sound, then turned and went back to sleep.

“Cheryl has given the baby to the Fogartys, right?” Wanda said.

Vicki nodded.

“I've seen it happen before. If the mom is weak and something goes wrong, she can lose her will to keep going. For the baby's sake, you've got to help that girl take care of herself. Even if the Fogartys raise him, he's going to need his mother's milk. You can get formula on the black market, but it's pretty difficult to find.”

Wanda took the baby from Vicki and explained more about what Vicki should do, and Vicki took notes. Finally, she asked how Wanda had become a believer.

“I was a nurse for a number of years. Then I trained couples about the birthing process. You know, breathing techniques, that stuff. I even went with couples to the hospital and stayed with them when the baby came.”