Stung (13 page)

Lionel heard the murmurs and threats of the crowd. They were a hundred yards away and tramping through the mud.

“You got your answer when they called you a servant of God,” Lionel said. “We should get out of here.”

Before Mr. Stein could move, the prophets stopped the crowd with their booming voices. Eli and Moishe spoke against the new temple. They called it blasphemy. “Your sacrifices of animal blood are a stench in the nostrils of your God! Turn from your wicked ways, O sinners! Advance not against the chosen ones whose time has not yet been accomplished!”

Lionel peeked from behind the tree. Two GC guards rushed up the hill, weapons raised. They slipped on the wet hillside and fell to the ground.

“Woe unto you who would close your ears to the warnings of the chosen ones!” the witnesses shouted. “Flee to the caves to save yourselves! Your mission is doomed! Your bodies shall be consumed!”

The guards crawled on their bellies. The crowd shouted to the guards, “Kill them! Shoot them!”

Gunfire exploded. Lionel heard a
ping
and looked up. A bullet left a gash in the tree just above his head. The witnesses remained steady, unmoving, unhurt. They stood, still illuminated on the hill. The guards reloaded and fired again. Lionel and Mr. Stein huddled together.

A flash of light and a
whooshing
sound surrounded them. The air was filled with an intense heat. The gunshots were replaced with a sizzling fire. Lionel looked down the hill and saw the two guards engulfed in flames. They had no time to react. Within seconds the white heat turned their rifles to puddles of boiling liquid and their bones to ash. The crowd fled, screaming, cursing, and crying.

“Let's go,” Mr. Stein said.

Lionel looked back only once more. The witnesses were walking slowly down the hill toward the Wailing Wall.

Vicki awoke at 11
P.M.
Midwest time. It was pitch-black outside, and there wasn't a sound in the rest of the house. She went to the meeting room and searched the Web to find coverage of the all-day training. It would begin at midnight her time.

The numbers reported by the media were staggering. Twenty-five thousand had been in Teddy Kollek Stadium the night before. More than fifty thousand had gathered outside. Another report said the two preachers at the Wailing Wall had violated the potentate's directive. Two guards had been murdered trying to apprehend them. Eyewitnesses on the Mount of Olives accused the two of hiding flamethrowers in their robes. The weapons had not been recovered, and the preachers were reported back in their usual spots.

Vicki scoffed at the report and wondered what the real story was. She opened her Bible and went through the passages Tsion had read during the first meeting. She wrote out a prayer in her notebook:
God, show us what you want us to do. I put myself and all of the Young Trib Force in your hands. Amen
.

Listening to the meeting the day before had given Vicki an idea. The evening sessions seemed mainly for encouragement, motivation, and Tsion's teaching. She could only imagine the feeling of worshiping God with thousands of other believers, hearing the words of their earthly leader firsthand. But the bulk of the training to evangelize the world would occur during the all-day sessions. Vicki and the others could memorize that teaching and train other kids.

She quickly sketched out a plan of action. They would record the sessions onto the computer's hard drive, just as they were recording Tsion's messages. The kids would then write out the lessons in a way anyone could understand.

At 11:30, Vicki set out the food and awakened the others. Conrad nodded when he heard Vicki's plan. “This could help us answer some of the e-mail Tsion is getting from kids.”

Judd awoke, refreshed, and found his way to the morning session. Lionel was still asleep. The meetings were open on a first-come, first-served basis. When one location filled, participants moved to the next site. The teacher at Judd's seminar was Yitzhak. Judd was amazed that such a humble man was actually one of the leaders.

After a song and prayer, Yitzhak tackled the subject of speaking one-on-one with unbelievers. “Though many of us have come to faith via the Internet or watching the mass media, we must not underestimate the importance of talking with individuals.”

Yitzhak outlined a series of questions. “Do not use these as a list to check off. If you are not interested in the other person, he or she will know it and will sense you are asking in a selfish way. If you can, get to know the other person. Many have gone through tragic circumstances. They have lost loved ones. They are separated from family members. Remember that the Good News must be accompanied by true compassion.”

Judd believed each member of the Young Trib Force had already followed these principles. Their work on the
Underground
and Judd's message at graduation proved how much they were willing to risk. Now Judd felt like being even bolder with people one-on-one.

“We only have a limited time,” Yitzhak said. “If someone does not respond to the message, pray for that person. Then ask God to lead you to someone else who needs the hope of eternal life.”

Speaker after speaker circulated through the meeting places. By the end of the day, Judd had taken in an incredible amount of information.

He met with Lionel for dinner at the gymnasium and found out what had happened with Eli and Moishe the night before. “Because of the death of the two guards,” Lionel said, “security is supposed to be really tight tonight.”

“I almost forgot,” Judd said, looking at his watch. “I was supposed to meet the guard!”

Vicki and the others took turns taking notes during the early morning sessions. When she heard one man talk about speaking to people one-on-one, she thought of Melinda and Charlie. Melinda stayed away from the daytime sessions, but Charlie watched. He began to ask questions, and Vicki had to take him out of the room.

Charlie seemed upset. “I don't have that thing on my head,” he said. Vicki questioned him once more about what he thought had happened during the disappearances.

“That's easy,” Charlie said. “All the good people got taken up to heaven, and the bad people stayed down here.”

She explained that afternoon and again at dinner that those who were raptured weren't better than those left behind—they had just been forgiven. “How much good stuff do you have to do to get into heaven?” Vicki said.

“Enough so that the good stuff is more than the bad?” Charlie said.

“No,” Vicki said. “Even if you do only one bad thing, God has to reject you because he's holy.”

Charlie nodded, but Vicki knew he still didn't get it.

Conrad rushed into the room. “You have to see this.”

Vicki rushed to the meeting room and saw an urgent e-mail on the screen. “Is it from Judd?”

Conrad shook his head. “This is really weird.”

Vicki scanned the message. It simply said,
Need to talk to Mark immediately. Let me know how I can find him. A friend
.

“Who could it be from?” Vicki said.

“Look at the return address,” Conrad said.

Vicki gasped. It was from a GC military post.

As thousands streamed toward the stadium, Judd and Lionel looked for the guard. GC guards looked threateningly at the growing crowds. Judd could tell by the conversation of those around him that many were skeptics, curious about the meeting.

“Let's separate,” Judd said as the meeting time approached. “He might think I'm up to something if he sees somebody with me.”

“It's your funeral,” Lionel said, walking away.

A few minutes later the guard approached Judd, his rifle ready.

“I'm glad you came,” Judd said. “I wanted to talk to you about—”

The guard interrupted. “You heard about the two who were killed last night?”

Judd nodded.

“I was supposed to be on duty there,” the guard said. “My friend took my place and now he's dead.”

Judd thought of the guards who had been burned alive.

“You and your kind are the reason he's dead.”

“You've had a terrible loss,” Judd said, “but don't blame us. God loves you and wants to get your attention.”

The guard pushed Judd away. “If I get the okay, the people onstage are dead.”

12

VICKI
and the others tried to figure out who had written the e-mail and what they should do. As difficult as it was to put it out of their minds, they decided to leave the e-mail unanswered until after the Meeting of the Witnesses was over.

After the early sessions were complete, the kids ate. Some slept, while others went outside to walk or get some fresh air. Conrad had found an old baseball and a tree limb about the size of a bat. He tried to get others to join him, but no one seemed interested.

The meeting began at 11 A.M. with cheers and applauses for Tsion. He smiled and raised his hands for silence.

“You have learned much today,” Tsion began, “and I have warned you of many judgments. I will tell you now what to expect next. When it occurs, let no man deny that he was warned and that this warning has been recorded in the Scriptures for centuries.”

Tsion explained that God doesn't want anyone to die without being forgiven of their sin. “That is the reason for this entire season of trial. In his love and mercy God has tried everything to get our attention. Is there doubt in anyone's mind that all of this is God's doing?

“Repent! Turn to him. Accept his gift before it is too late. It is likely that three-fourths of everyone left behind at the Rapture will die by the end of the Tribulation.

“I want to tell you tonight of the fourth Trumpet Judgment that will affect the look of the skies and the temperature of the entire globe. Revelation 8:12 reads, ‘Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.'”

Tsion explained that this judgment would cause great distress on the earth. “Prophecy indicates this darkening and cooling is temporary. But when it occurs it will usher in—for however long—winter-like conditions in most of the world. Prepare, prepare, prepare!”