Stung

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  “I feel responsible,” Mark said. “I was the one who brought her here.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Vicki said. “We want this place to be open to skeptics and seekers.”

  “We can’t just kick her out,” Conrad said. “She might get caught. Knowing her, she’d tell the GC about us just to get a half hour of TV privileges.”

  “I’d like to throw her in the tunnel and lock both doors,” Vicki said.

  “That would be an effective evangelism tool,” Conrad said. “Convert or we’ll starve you.”

  Vicki smiled. “Maybe we should just keep praying that God will cause her to come around.”

  “Any news from Judd and Lionel?” Mark said.

  Vicki frowned. “They’re stuck.”

  Judd walked beside Lionel, just behind Jamal. Mr. Stein wore a cloak over his head and held onto Jamal’s arm. Judd couldn’t tell what part of the Old City they were in, but he could imagine an upper room and frightened disciples waiting to be arrested by Roman guards.

  They passed through a garden, then up a narrow alley. Clothes were hung out to dry on a wire strung between the buildings. The light was fading. Something about the scene filled Judd with sadness, but he couldn’t figure it out. Then it came to him. There should be children playing here, kicking a ball and laughing. But there were no children.

  Jamal cautiously led them through a doorway and up two flights of rickety stairs. He knocked twice, waited, then knocked twice again. The door creaked open, and the group was waved in quickly.

  Yitzhak sat in the corner with a blanket draped over his frail shoulders. His voice was weak and he had bruises about his head. He welcomed Jamal but didn’t seem to recognize Judd and Lionel.

  Daniel, the emcee of the Meeting of the Witnesses, sat beside Yitzhak. About a dozen others sat at tables and on the floor.

  “Who is our mystery guest?” Yitzhak said weakly.

  Mr. Stein slowly removed the cloak from his head. Yitzhak’s eyes filled with tears. He stood, then fell back against the wall. Mr. Stein rushed to him and embraced him.

  “When we were told you had been sent home,” Yitzhak said, “we feared they had killed you.”

  Others in the group surrounded Mr. Stein and hugged him. Some praised God in Hebrew. Others smiled and clapped. After a few minutes of conversation, Yitzhak lifted a hand.

  “We have been given the task to go into the world and reap a great soul harvest,” Yitzhak said. “My brother, Mitchell Stein, has asked for a time of intense study. We have prepared a place for that, as well as rest for those who have been through a difficult ordeal.

  “God has delivered us from the hands of our enemies for a purpose. And we will fulfill our destiny as God’s spokesmen to a lost and confused world. May he grant us the strength and the wisdom and the courage to do it.”

  Mr. Stein turned to Judd and Lionel with tears in his eyes. He cupped his hands around their necks and pulled them close to him.

  “I feel so torn. I don’t want to let you down but—”

  “We understand,” Lionel said. “We want you to go.”

  “I cannot say when we will be together again,” Mr. Stein said.

  Jamal stepped forward. “These are our young brothers in the faith. We will make sure they are safe.”

  Mr. Stein called for quiet in the room and explained what he, Judd, and Lionel had been through. “I would like to ask someone to pray for my young friends.”

  Yitzhak motioned the others forward. All the people in the room stretched out their hands toward Judd and Lionel, and those standing closest to them laid hands on them directly.

  “Our Father,” Yitzhak began, “we thank you for those who trust in you, no matter what their age. We remember the words of the apostle Paul who said, ‘Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.’ These friends have lived that verse, and we praise you for their lives.”

  Those touching Lionel and Judd said “Amen,”“Yes, Lord,” and other words Judd couldn’t understand.

  Yitzhak continued. “We give them to you now and ask that you would give them spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they may grow in their knowledge of you. I pray their hearts will be flooded with light so that they can understand the wonderful future you have promised to those you have called. Help them to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance you have given your people.”

  Judd realized Yitzhak was praying the same prayer for Lionel and him that Paul prayed in Ephesians.

  Yitzhak continued. “O God, help our friends begin to understand the incredible greatness of your power. May they experience this power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at your right hand in heaven. We know that Jesus is now far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. May he be praised by all of our lives, and the lives of these two young men, until we see him coming in the clouds at the Glorious Appearing.

  “We give you Judd and Lionel, O Father, and we give you our lives. Every breath we have is yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

  Lionel awoke before the others the next morning and opened Tsion’s Web page. Tsion included some personal notes in his teaching for the day. He wrote about the heartbreak of losing family members and friends.

  The death of Ken Ritz has gotten to him, Lionel thought.

  Tsion ended his teaching with a reminder that we are but a year and a half from what the Scriptures call the Great Tribulation. It has been hard, worse than hard, so far. We have survived the worst two years in the history of our planet, and this next year and a half will be worse. But the last three and a half years of this period will make the rest seem like a garden party.

  Tsion always concluded with a word of encouragement, no matter how difficult the teaching had been. He quoted Luke 21: “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

  Lionel flipped on the television and kept the sound low. Nicolae Carpathia was still upset about the actions of Eli and Moishe. The reporter cut to Leon Fortunato at a news conference.

  “His Excellency has decreed the preachers enemies of the world system and has authorized Peter the Second, supreme pontiff of Enigma Babylon One World Faith, to dispose of the criminals as he sees fit.”

  The response from Peter Mathews seemed almost comical to Lionel. Mathews was furious. “Oh, the problem is mine now, is it? Has His Excellency finally given authority to the person who deserves it? When the two lie dead and the rains fall again in Israel, clear, pure, refreshing water will cascade once more, and the world will know who has the true power.”

  Lionel thought of Vicki and his friends at the schoolhouse. It was midnight in the Midwest, and he guessed everyone was asleep as he saw the sun rise. He opened the door to the roof and walked quietly upstairs. He wondered what Mr. Stein was learning and what would happen to him and Judd.

  There were no clouds in the sky. The sun was so brilliant that Lionel had to squint. He was high enough to see the gates of the Old City. The new temple gleamed brilliantly in the bright light.

  Lionel closed his eyes and felt the warmth. Suddenly, he felt a chill. He opened his eyes to what looked like twilight. It was as if someone had let down the blinds on heaven. The sun was still visible in the sky, but it had faded. The temperature immediately fell.

  Lionel rushed back to his computer and pulled up Tsion’s message from the Meeting of the Witnesses. He found the section he was looking for and flipped his Bible open to Revelation 8:12. �
�Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also.”

  Lionel shook Judd awake. “The next judgment’s here!”

  Judd rushed to the roof and pulled his blanket tightly around him. Jamal and his wife joined them.

  “This is going to affect everything,” Judd said, “not just how much light we get and how low the temperature will go. Plants are going to die. There’ll be food shortages. Water lines will freeze.”

  “Communication lines will be affected,” Jamal said. “Much of the new GC technology is solar powered.”

  “And transportation,” Jamal’s wife said gravely. “Travel will be impossible in a few days.”

  Jamal motioned them back inside. “It is time to answer your questions.” He closed the door and sealed off the roof with heavy tape so the cold air could not get through.

  Back in the living area, Jamal opened a box. “Tsion told us to prepare, and we have.” Inside the box was nonperishable food. The next box contained warm clothes and blankets. “I also purchased these.” Jamal unpacked several freestanding fireplaces. “I would never allow them in the building under normal circumstances, but these are not normal circumstances.”

  “These won’t do us any good if we don’t have fuel,” Judd said.

  “Have you seen the new Dumpsters at the back of the building?” Jamal said.

  Lionel nodded. “They’re huge.”

  “Each is locked and filled with firewood. I estimate one Dumpster could keep us warm twenty-four hours a day for up to two weeks.”

  “How many Dumpsters?” Judd said.

  “Ten,” Jamal said. “That could last us as long as five months. However, we may need to shelter others, and that means we will have to use more wood to heat the rooms.”

  Jamal showed them another source of heat he had invented. It used a simple exercise bicycle and a weird contraption hooked to it. “I have five of these. It will not only give us heat, but a good workout as well.”

  The phone rang. Nada handed the phone to Lionel. It was Samuel. The boy shivered at the phone booth. Lionel tried to calm him, but Samuel was frightened.

  “This is exactly what the Bible said would happen,” Lionel said. “God’s trying to get people’s attention again.”

  “My father left early this morning, before the sky darkened,” Samuel said. “I want to tell him about my faith, but I’m scared. What if he kicks me out?”

  “You can come here if you have to,” Lionel said, “but try to wait until you think your father’s ready to listen.”

  Judd asked for the phone, and Lionel gave it to him. “This may be your chance to tell your dad the truth. You can say Tsion predicted all this. If your father seems open, show him the passage in the Bible.”

  Lionel walked to the nearest window. There was a flurry of activity as Jamal and his family and the others staying with them opened boxes and prepared for the cold days ahead. Lionel looked out at the city of Jerusalem. He wondered if his friends back home had prepared. Surely people would die from this, especially those who were used to warm temperatures.

  Lionel prayed for his friends and got to work.

  23

  WHEN Vicki awoke the next morning, she pulled the covers up under her chin. The air was chilly. She was used to the sunshine waking her between six-thirty and seven. Sometimes she pulled the covers over her head to sleep a little longer.

  She picked her watch up from the floor and turned it several times before she could see. It was after seven o’clock.

  Strange, Vicki thought, swinging her feet from under the covers and hitting the floor. She quickly jumped back into bed. The floor was icy.

  No one was up yet, so Vicki went to the computer room to read Tsion’s Web site. The Internet seemed unusually slow.

  Vicki blew warm air into her hands and noticed she could see her breath. When a window popped on her screen with a news flash about the worldwide cold spell, Vicki finally realized what had happened.

  She called the others together. Slowly people made their way into the room. Mark walked onto the balcony on the second floor to see the lack of sunlight, but he couldn’t stand to stay outside long.

  Vicki logged on to the local news. The report said a cold front had moved into Illinois in the middle of the night. Meteorologists and other weather experts tried to make sense of the situation, but all seemed stumped.

  Janie shuffled into the room with a blanket draped around her. “Who turned down the heat? I’m freezing!”

  “It’s the judgment we told you about,” Vicki said.

  Janie looked at Vicki like she had two heads. “What are you talking about?”

  Vicki picked up a Bible and read the passage that described the striking of the sun, moon, and stars.

  “This means we need to get in gear,” Mark said. He and Conrad ran to start the generator.

  Vicki, Darrion, and Shelly inspected the house and decided the upstairs would be too difficult to heat. “Too much cold air coming through those old windows,” Vicki said. “We’ll need to move everybody to the ground floor.”

  “I don’t want to be cooped up down here,” Janie protested.

  Vicki remained firm. When it was time for lunch, the kids huddled near the computer to watch the official reaction from the Global Community.

  A spokesperson for the Global Community Aeronautics and Space Administration read a prepared statement in front of reporters. The man tried to look calm and confident.

  “Regarding the incident that occurred 0700 hours New Babylon time today, the GCASA is pleased to assure the public that the darkening of the skies is the result of an explainable natural phenomenon and should not be a cause of alarm. Top scientific researchers have concluded that this is a condition that should correct itself in somewhere between forty-eight and ninety-six hours.”

  Reporters’ hands went up and several shouted questions. The man tried to calm them, then continued. “I won’t be taking questions at this time. As you were told, this is a prepared statement.”

  “I can tell you why he’s not taking questions,” Mark said. “He doesn’t have any answers.”

  The scientist continued. “This event should not affect temperatures greatly, except in the short run.”

  Mark snickered. “Yeah, in the short run while all of us freeze to death.”

  “There may be some impact on smaller solar-powered equipment such as cell phones, computers, and calculators for a few days, but there should be no measurable impact on the power reserves.”

  The scientist gave one theory. He said the phenomenon’s probable cause was an explosion of a massive star—a supernova. “The explosion resulted in the formation of a magnetar—a supermagnetized star—that can spin at a high rate of speed, causing elements in its core to rise and become extremely magnetic.”

  “See,” Janie said, “this is not some kind of judgment from God. They have a perfect explanation.”

  “It’s nonsense,” Conrad said. “I read about this in school. If a magnetar would have happened as close as he says, the earth would be hurtling out into space right now.”

  “You think you know more than this guy?” Janie said.

  Mark asked them to be quiet as the scientist continued.

  “The GCASA will maintain constant watch on the situation and report significant changes. We expect things to be normal before the end of next week.”

  Judd wanted to watch the Global Community’s coverage of the disaster, but there was too much to do. Getting heat to the rooms and opening boxes took time.

  Jamal was frantic with calls from the lower apartments. Power from the Global Community was running at 50 percent strength, and the main heating unit was already struggling to pump warm air throughout the building.

  “We have to make a decision,” Jamal said. “There are about five hundred people living here. If the judgmen
t continues for more than a week, some of those may die.”

  “We can’t fit five hundred people up here,” Judd said.

  “But we could help some,” Jamal said.

  “Wait,” Lionel said. “Maybe we could set up a couple of your heaters in a big room downstairs. Isn’t there some kind of meeting room near the lobby?”

  Jamal nodded. “Excellent idea. We could spare three of the wood-burning fireplaces and place them about the room. We would need to find ventilation, but it might work.”

  “And if we find other believers, we can invite them up,” Judd said.

  Judd and the others were exhausted by evening. They had set up a heating center in the large meeting room downstairs. The room allowed four hundred occupants, but Jamal had knocked out a wall to an adjoining room so that everyone in the building could stay warm.

  Judd ate soup and watched the evening newscast. He could tell the Global Community was scrambling, and he loved it. A newscaster recapped the story and announced that a special panel would comment about the situation the following day. The panel members included famed botanist, Chaim Rosenzweig.

  “That’s the guy Buck, Tsion, and Chloe stayed with,” Lionel said. “He’s not a believer, is he?”

  Jamal shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “You think he’ll follow the GC party line?” Judd said.

  “Rosenzweig is asked to comment about everything in Israel,” Jamal said. “When the disappearances occurred, he agreed with one theory the GC gave. He’ll probably agree with them again.”

  Vicki walked outside to look at the setting sun. The gray sky hung like a blanket over the countryside. Vicki thought it looked like snow, but she knew this was nothing that could be explained by weather patterns. This was God at work.

  Vicki shivered in the cold and said a prayer. She thanked God for providing them with a place to stay and enough food to keep them going. She prayed especially for Melinda, Janie, and Charlie—that their eyes would be opened to the truth. Then her thoughts turned toward Judd. She hadn’t heard from him in days. She had hoped he would be on his way home, but that would be impossible now. Wherever Judd, Lionel, and Mr. Stein were, they would be stuck there until this judgment was over.