Stung (28 page)

Judd hadn't ventured out of the apartment building since the judgment had begun. He was shocked at what he saw. The wind swept along in a howling blizzard. No one was on the street.

Jamal's car was kept in the bowels of the garage in an area sheltered from the cold. It took Judd a half hour to get it started. “If this thing stops on us, we're in serious trouble.”

Even with three layers of clothes on, Judd was so cold he could hardly make it back inside to get Nada and return to the car. Snow blew through the garage and piled up in the corner. Breathing was difficult in the extreme cold. Judd felt his nostrils freezing, and he had to shield his eyes from the icy wind. “We can still turn back,” Judd said as he got in the car. “Your dad will never know.”

Nada got in and wrapped her arms around her knees. “Just drive.”

Vicki and the others were up early to watch the coverage of Nicolae Carpathia on the Net. Conrad, who had been obsessed with opening the safe, reported that running the generator twenty-four hours a day had used up more gasoline than they had planned. “I think we should turn it off during the day and keep it going at night.”

Vicki ran the idea past Mark.

“We can burn wood during the day and use the generator to heat the schoolhouse at night,” Mark said. “I'm for it.”

Conrad switched the computer to battery power. The Global Community announcers explained that Nicolae Carpathia was in Israel, ready to bargain with the two witnesses. A message popped up on the computer that the battery was going dead.

“Already?” Mark said.

“I don't want to miss any of this,” Conrad said. “I'll start the generator again.”

The kids watched Carpathia approach the fence where the witnesses sat. The announcers fell silent.

“I bring you cordial greetings from the Global Community,” Carpathia said, speaking to Eli and Moishe. “I assume, because of your powers, that you knew I was coming.”

As Moishe began to answer, an e-mail message popped up on the screen.

“Great timing,” Janie said sarcastically.

Darrion moved closer. “Looks like it's from that GC guy, Carl.”

“Get out of the way; I want to see this,” Janie said.

Suddenly the computer went blank. The kids groaned in unison.

“Battery's dead,” Mark said.

“Did you see the message?” Vicki said.

Mark shook his head. “I'll go see what's keeping Conrad—”

Conrad stood in the doorway, his face ashen. “The generator won't work now. Gas line must have immediately frozen when I turned it off a few minutes ago.”

“We're dead,” Janie said.

Lionel promised Judd and Nada he would cover for them. When Jamal asked about them, Lionel pretended he didn't hear and turned up the volume on the television. Nicolae Carpathia went back and forth with the witnesses, who seemed not to want to let the potentate get the upper hand.

“I am seeking your help as men who claim to speak for God,” Carpathia said. “If this is of God, then I plead with you to help me come to some arrangement, an agreement, a compromise, if you will.”

“Your quarrel is not with us.”

“Well, all right, I understand that, but if you have access to him—”

“Your quarrel is not w—”

“I appreciate that point! I am asking—”

Moishe's voice blared through the speakers. “You would dare wag your tongue at the chosen ones of almighty God?”

“I apologize. I—”

“You who boasted that we would die before the due time?”

“Granted, I concede that I—”

“You who denies the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?”

Carpathia sputtered something about tolerance. Moishe countered with, “There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”

A few minutes later the witnesses repeated, “Your quarrel is not with us,” and turned away from Carpathia.

Nicolae looked confused. “So, that is it, then? Before the eyes of the world, you refuse to talk? All I get is that my quarrel is not with you? With whom, then, is it? All right, fine!”

“What do you think he'll do now?” Lionel said.

“Watch,” Jamal said.

Carpathia moved close to the main camera and spoke precisely, his face clearly freezing in the cold. Lionel thought he looked desperate.

“Upon further review,” Carpathia said, “the death of the Global Community guard at the Meeting of the Witnesses was not the responsibility of any of the witnesses. The man killed by GC troops at the airport was not a terrorist. As of this moment, no one who agrees with Dr. Ben-Judah and his teachings is considered a fugitive or an enemy of the Global Community. All citizens are equally free to travel and live their lives in a spirit of liberty.

“I do not know with whom I am or should be talking, but I stand willing to do whatever it takes to end this plague of darkness.”

The camera followed Carpathia as he turned on his heel, sarcastically saluted the two witnesses, and reboarded the motor coach. Before the news anchors could speak, the witnesses said together, “Woe, woe, woe unto all who fail to look up and lift up your heads!”

Judd drove by Samuel's house. He kept moving another block and turned into an alley. “Before you go, tell me what you're going to do.”

“I'm going to see if he's okay. If he's not, I'll bring him here.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Nada opened the door to get out, and a blast of cold air hit Judd in the face. It took his breath away. Nada quickly closed the door again, took a deep breath, and then finally got out. Judd watched her run from the car, her hand over her face. She was either the bravest girl he knew or the most foolish.

Nada made it to the house and went straight to the front door. Judd couldn't imagine what she would say or do. If Mr. Goldberg was there …

The door opened. Judd stretched to see who it was. Suddenly, a hand grabbed Nada's arm and pulled her inside.

Vicki knew they were in trouble. Until now the cold had made life difficult. Some of the food had frozen. It was difficult sleeping when you could see your breath. But now their source of power was gone and, with it, their best source of heat.

Vicki sent the kids into emergency mode. While Conrad and Mark worked desperately at the generator, Vicki and the others brought in more firewood and stacked it in the meeting room. The kids moved their mattresses and sleeping bags into the room. Janie complained and blamed Conrad for their problems, but Vicki told her to keep quiet.

Shelly returned from the storage area, her teeth chattering. She held up three bottles of water, all frozen solid.

“Put them by the fire,” Vicki said. “We'll ration the water until we can thaw some more.”

Conrad and Mark came back. Conrad volunteered to keep the fire going all night.

“I don't know if I trust him,” Janie said. “You see what he did to the generator!”

“I've had enough out of you,” Mark yelled. “If you think you can survive without us—”

Vicki held up a hand. “Settle down. Let's just see if we can make it through tonight.”

Vicki and a few others held hands and prayed before they went to sleep that night. “God, you were able to stop the lions from eating Daniel,” Mark prayed. “You saved Noah from the water that flooded the world. Now we're asking for another miracle. Help us figure out a way to keep warm during this judgment.”

When they finished praying, Melinda scooted her sleeping bag next to Vicki.

“Are we going to die?” Melinda whispered.

25

JUDD'S
first instinct was to jump from the car and run to the Goldberg house, but Nada had been pulled inside so quickly that he had no chance to rescue her. He ran his hand through his hair. The gas gauge read almost empty.

Judd left the car running and raced toward Samuel's house. Icy wind whipped at his face. He had lived in Chicago all his life, but Judd had never felt such biting cold. He peeked in the window, but the drapes were closed.

Judd circled the house. He found the secret entrance he and Lionel had used to escape through a few weeks earlier, but it was nailed shut. He kept moving, rubbing his arms to stay warm. At the back of the house Judd climbed onto the wooden porch and stood on a railing to reach the bare kitchen window. He took a minute to rub a small spot in the ice so he could look inside.

Shadows in the living room, beyond the kitchen. Someone yelled. If Mr. Goldberg had pulled Nada inside, they were in deep trouble.

Judd was surprised to find the window unlocked. Carefully he pushed it open.

“You are with them, aren't you, young lady?” a man yelled. Judd recognized the voice. It was Mr. Goldberg.

“I was worried about your son,” Nada said. “Now that I know he is all right, I will go.”

“Sit down!” the man screamed. “You're not going anywhere.”

Judd pulled himself inside, careful not to make noise.

He closed the window quietly and walked toward the living room. Mr. Goldberg shoved Nada into a chair. “How do you know my son?”

Nada looked away.

The man raised a hand. Samuel shouted, “Stop!” making his father turn. “Don't hurt her,” Samuel said, stepping between them. “I was supposed to call her house to say I was all right. You wouldn't let me outside.”

“What are you saying? Why would you have to go outside—”

“I've been trying to tell you for days,” Samuel interrupted. “I helped Judd and the other boy escape. They showed me the truth about God.”

Mr. Goldberg stepped back. “Traitor,” he muttered.

“I couldn't call them from here or you'd trace it,” Samuel said. “What they've said about Jesus is true. He is the Messiah. I've wanted to tell you so badly—”

“Enough,” his father said.

“I have the mark of the believer now—”

“Be quiet!” Mr. Goldberg slammed his fist into a lamp and knocked it to the floor. “You're the same as Ben-Judah.”

“Listen to me,” Samuel pleaded. “Rabbi Ben-Judah is right. This weather phenomenon was predicted in the Bible thousands of years ago. At least let me explain it.”