Stung (40 page)

Judd sat on the crowded airplane. The seats were small and the plane seemed ancient. He thought of the trip with Mr. Stein and what he had learned. Once again he ached to share the experience with someone close to him. Then he fell asleep.

He awoke suddenly, thinking another passenger had said something. The man next to him shrieked, unbuckled, and jumped into the aisle. A woman in front of Judd did the same, and the two ran into each other.

“What's happening?” a woman yelled behind Judd.

The plane descended into the thick cloud and was enveloped in darkness. Those who weren't screaming or crying whimpered in fear.

Judd thought of Mr. Stein and the kids back in Illinois. If he could hear the voice of the angel in an airplane, could everyone on the ground hear it too? Judd sat forward and looked around. He was the only one with the mark of the believer. He was the only one who knew what was about to happen.

Vicki asked the group to come together in the study room early Monday morning. Melinda was walking with only a slight limp now, her foot almost back to normal. Conrad couldn't wait for Z to come so he could show him the gold coins. Thankfully, Tolan's temperature was normal. Janie complained about the meeting but showed up anyway.

Vicki turned on a light and ran through the changes that had been made downstairs. “We've made it as airtight as possible. I don't think it can be any more secure.”

“Why'd you guys do all that work?” Janie said. “Doesn't make sense.”

Vicki put her hands on her hips. “We did it for you. And for the others here who don't believe what we're telling you is true.”

Janie rolled her eyes.

Vicki began the teaching for the day. Tsion Ben-Judah's latest teaching concerned the next judgment. She called up notes on the computer.

“I've told you what Dr. Ben-Judah thinks about the cloud that's covering the earth. Tsion says the things that come from it will not be part of the animal kingdom at all, but actual demons that—”

Vicki stopped when she heard the noise. It sounded from the heavens, reverberated outside, but they could all hear it clearly in the room.

“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Phoenix barked at the voice of the angel. Charlie's eyes widened. He grabbed the dog in fear.

“What was that?” Melinda said.

Janie shook her head. “You think we'll fall for anything. That came from the computer.”

Conrad stared at Janie. “No, it didn't.”

“She had it on a timer or something,” Janie said. “You guys can't scare us into believing.”

“We wouldn't do that,” Conrad said.

Vicki held up a hand. “These judgments are going to get worse and worse. The only way to survive is to ask God to forgive you.”

Before anyone else could speak, Janie said, “If you're so smart, tell me what's going to happen.” She snickered and looked around the room. “Is it going to be a Godsized tornado? Is that cloud going to spew out a bunch of little green men? Sounds like I'm not the only person here who's smoked some weed.”

Darrion got in Janie's face. “These are going to be the scariest things you've ever seen in your life. I wouldn't make fun of them if I were you.”

“We may not have much time,” Vicki said. She and Shelly helped Lenore carry the baby and his crib downstairs. Melinda and Charlie weren't far behind.

Janie stayed in the room. “I'll ride this one out with the religious weirdos!”

35

AS JUDD'S
plane descended into the cloud, the captain of the flight spoke on the intercom, first in French, then in English. “Do not be alarmed by the voice you just heard. We believe there was some kind of interference with the plane's sound system.”

Judd shook his head.
These people will never believe
, he thought.

The announcement by the pilot seemed to calm people. Those who had gone into the aisle made their way back to their seats. Some laughed nervously, as if they hadn't really been frightened.

The pilot came back on the intercom. “We're descending into the cloud. Don't be alarmed by the darkness as we prepare for landing.”

Judd sat in the middle seat and craned his neck to see out the window. “You want to move over here?” the man beside him said. “There's nothing out there but pitch-black.”

A flash of lightning lit the cloud. In that split second, Judd looked past the man and saw something swirling, almost like a tornado, inside the cloud. “If you don't mind, I would like to switch seats.”

“Suit yourself,” the man said.

Judd moved over and peered out the window. A flight attendant instructed everyone to put down their window shades. Judd dutifully followed orders, then lifted it slightly and bent to see outside.

Another flash of lightning revealed an incredible sight. In the swirling blackness, small pieces of the cloud were breaking off. The pieces scattered and flew through the air. At first, Judd thought it was an actual tornado. He had heard how fierce winds could lift pieces of wood and stone into the air thousands of feet. But these bits of debris seemed to have a mind of their own. They flew in all directions.

“Close that now!” the attendant yelled from the aisle.

“Sorry,” Judd said. He put the shade all the way down and sat back.

The man in the middle seat snickered. “She really told you.” He patted Judd on the shoulder. “Don't worry. We'll be out of the cloud in a few minutes and you can look all you want.”

“Flight attendants, prepare for landing,” the pilot said over the intercom.

Suddenly, the plane was splattered with small objects. It sounded like hail. The plane dipped and veered to the left, as if trying to avoid something. The pilot came back on the intercom. This time he sounded out of control. “Please do
not
look out the window! We're experiencing some kind of weather phenomenon.” Judd heard someone scream in the cockpit. The captain turned off the intercom.

People around Judd began to whimper again. The man in the aisle seat nervously fidgeted with an in-flight magazine. He turned to the man in the middle. “I've been through hail in a plane smaller than this one. This shouldn't be a problem.”

From three rows behind Judd came a piercing scream. Then another. Someone had ignored the captain's order and had looked out.

Judd slammed open his window shade.

Mark watched the GC plane land and taxi to the end of the runway. Kolak and two other officers drove a jeep to pick up the pilots. Mark saw a younger officer with a backpack get out. He was tall with dark hair and eyes. The man jumped out of the jeep before it stopped and trotted toward the fence. “Are you Mark?”

Mark nodded. “Carl?”

They shook hands. “Man, that was scary up there,” Carl said, taking off his hat. There was no mark on his forehead. “We heard a voice in the plane.”

Mark's heart sunk. He couldn't take Carl back to the schoolhouse. And with the judgment coming, Mark knew he had only a little time to convince him of the truth.

“The pilots said it might be somebody jamming the GC radio signals,” Carl said. He grabbed a jacket from his backpack, and Mark spotted a Bible inside.

“I wish your cousin were here,” Carl said. “Bet he could explain all this.”

“Yeah,” Mark said, picking up the Bible. John's name was written on the front.

“He gave me that before he died. I want to explain what happened. I have some questions, too.”

“We have to talk,” Mark said.

“Yeah, but I want to get away from here first.”

“We may not have much time,” Mark said.

“What do you mean?”

“Carl, I heard the voice down here.”

“You had a radio?”

“It didn't come over the radio.” Mark stepped closer. “It was an angel announcing—”

“No way,” Carl said. “You're trying to scare me.”

“The angel sounded a warning to everybody on earth. You'd better listen to it.”

“You don't even know what the voice said.”

“‘Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth … ,'” Mark said.

Carl squinted. “How did you know that?”

“God is about to bring a judgment on the people who haven't given their lives to him. Did John talk to you about this?”

“Sort of,” Carl said. “He wanted me to pray with him, but I didn't feel right about it.”

“What more do you need to know?” Mark said. “All you have to realize is that—”

Carl shook his head and interrupted. “Let's get away from here so I can think clearly. Take me to you guys' hideout and I'll tell you all about it.”

Mark blinked. How did Carl know they had a hideout? He pushed the thought from his mind and led Carl to his motorcycle. “Hope you don't mind riding on the back.”

Carl smiled. “I haven't ridden one of these in a couple of years. It'll be great.”

As they pulled out, the wind picked up. Dust and sand flew at them from the runway. Mark headed toward the interstate and noticed the cloud changing as they drove. The underside turned from a dark blue to a yellowish brown.

“Something's happening,” Carl yelled over the noise of the motorcycle engine.

Mark turned his head to answer, but the sight over Carl's shoulder sent a chill through him. The cloud was falling to the earth. Mark couldn't speak. He knew what was about to happen, and he had no way of stopping it.

Lionel took Sam to the corner of the airport waiting area and watched as people scurried about. The minutes just after the angel spoke were chaotic. People screamed and ran for cover, but they didn't know what they were running from. Finally things calmed. People checked on incoming flights. Others who had just discovered that all outbound flights had been cancelled complained and stomped off.

Lionel stood by the window and watched for Judd's plane. As it descended from the cloud, it veered to the right, then angled downward toward the runway.

“Look,” Sam said, “the cloud is changing.”

Sam was right. The bottom of the cloud swirled, like a beehive suspended in midair. Instead of dark blue, the cloud had taken on a yellowish color. As the plane fell from the sky, the cloud seemed to follow it.

“What's that noise?” Sam said.

It began as a low humming sound and became louder. Lionel looked up. The cloud was breaking apart. Little pieces fell to earth.

The noise was deafening, like a helicopter, only higher pitched and metallic.

“Sounds like a gigantic lawn mower,” Sam said, covering his ears. Others in the airport did the same as the clanging continued. Lionel's body shook from the beating and rattling outside the window. His heart raced.

On the other side of the terminal came a tapping on the windows. People shrieked and scattered, pointing and crying. Lionel glanced out the window and saw creatures fly out of the cloud. They flew fast and swarmed like bees.