Stung

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  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.

  A mix of brown, black, and yellow, the locusts were hideous. They looked like tiny horses about six inches long with scorpion-like tails. Lionel was close enough to the window to look into their eyes. They were on the attack. The creatures seemed to look past Lionel and Sam to the others in the terminal. The earthquake and meteors had been devastating to live through. But these beings were the most horrible things he had ever seen.

  Lionel noticed a door that led to the gate. Someone had left it open. He sprinted across the waiting area and slammed it shut. Then came the anguished scream of a worker just outside the door. The man was covered with the creatures and was trying to get inside.

  Judd had read Tsion Ben-Judah’s description of the demon locusts, but it had not prepared him for his first sight of them. Ugly was too nice a word. Just a glimpse at one turned Judd’s stomach. The man next to him fainted. People all around Judd screamed for help. Judd pulled down the window shade.

  Tsion had taught that these creatures wouldn’t harm plants like normal locusts did. Instead, they would attack those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. If that was true, Judd was the only one on the plane who wasn’t a target.

  Another frightening observation of Rabbi Ben-Judah was that the people who were stung would be in so much pain that they would want to die, but God would not allow them to. Tsion said these beasts were not part of the animal kingdom at all. Instead, they were actual demons taking the form of living organisms. Even though the plane was traveling at a high speed, the demon locusts swarmed over it.

  Screaming continued throughout the cabin as an explosion rocked the plane. The pilot came back on the intercom, panic in his voice. “We’ve just lost our right engine! We have to make an emergency landing. Everyone assume the crash position.”

  Some of those things must have gotten sucked inside, Judd thought. He opened the window shade again. A huge ball of fire engulfed one engine. White liquid poured into the hole, putting out the fire, but they were falling fast. An emergency crew drove wildly toward the runway. Judd shook his head. They’ll get stung before they can ever help us.

  Somehow the pilot managed to get the plane safely on the ground. People clapped nervously, but as soon as they rolled to a stop, the shrieking and wailing began again. The metallic sound of the locusts roared outside.

  The creatures surrounded the plane and hovered, beating their wings and driving their heads into the windows. The sound of scratching at the roof of the plane made passengers cower in their seats.

  Judd opened the shade and put his face close to the window. One of the beasts rammed its head into the glass and was stunned. It shook and looked directly at Judd. Judd was sickened by what he saw. The face of the locust looked like a man’s. The eyes were hollow and piercing. The mouth dripped saliva from teeth that were long and pointed, like a lion’s. Another disgusting feature was the demon’s long, flowing hair. It spilled out from under what looked like a gold crown.

  The creature flew forward and hovered at the top of the window so it could look past Judd to the other passengers. When it caught a glimpse of the others, the locust bared its teeth and struggled desperately to get inside.

  Judd shuddered. No way they could open the door without those things getting inside. Everyone on the plane was trapped.

  Mar
k gunned the motorcycle, but he couldn’t outrun the beasts from the sky. They fell from the dark cloud above and scattered. Mark figured he had only seconds to find shelter for Carl.

  Mark spotted a car under a bridge and screeched to a stop. “Quick, get inside!”

  Carl jumped from the cycle and lifted the door handle. “It’s locked!”

  “Try the other side!” Mark yelled.

  The noise from the approaching creatures grew to a roar. Cars passing above on the bridge crashed into each other at the sight of the oncoming horde. Mark looked up and saw the beasts already on the bridge.

  “The back door’s open!” Carl yelled.

  “Get in and make sure the windows are all up!” Mark shouted.

  Carl closed the door just as the locusts descended, skittering on the windshield and banging their heads into the windows. Carl scooted to the other side and reached for the doorknob.

  “No!” Mark yelled. “I’m okay. Just stay where you are!”

  Mark knew from his study that he wouldn’t be stung by the locusts, but his heart raced when he saw them swarm around the car. Their wings clattered, and they hissed at the sight of their victim. Mark wondered if Carl could be stung more than once.

  Someone screamed from above, and Mark ran to the edge of the bridge. A man had gotten out of his car, and several of the demon locusts had swarmed around him. “They’re biting me!” the man yelled, climbing onto the bridge railing.

  Mark yelled at him but it was too late. The man stepped off and plunged to the pavement. Mark knew the fall had to be fatal. He ran to the man’s side and was surprised to find a pulse. A huge welt appeared on the man’s arm where a locust had stung him. Mark leaned over the man’s face and said, “Sir, can you hear me?”

  To Mark’s surprise, the man rolled over and groaned. “I wanted to kill myself. It hurts so much. I want to die!”

  Mark turned back to the abandoned car and felt a chill. Someone or something was chanting. He walked closer to the car and listened as more locusts swarmed near Carl.

  “Apollyon!” the beasts shouted. “Apollyon, Apollyon, Apollyon!”

  Vicki closed the door to the secret room downstairs and made sure the second door was secure as well. She was glad she could offer shelter to those who wanted safety. She hoped all their work on the rooms would pay off.

  Upstairs, Janie was still making fun of the kids. She believed the voice of the angel was a hoax.

  “You’d better get downstairs while you can,” Conrad said.

  A low rumble shook the windows of the schoolhouse.

  “It’s too late,” Vicki said, coming up the stairs. “They’ll be here any minute.”

  “Who’ll be here?” Janie said.

  Vicki shook her head. “We tried to warn you, Janie. You wouldn’t listen.”

  Janie went to the window and looked out. “Something’s happening. What’s that sound?”

  “Your worst nightmare,” Conrad said.

  Something banged into the windows in the front room. Roaring, buzzing, and clanging filled the house.

  “Okay, okay,” Janie said, “take me downstairs.”

  “We can’t put the others at risk,” Vicki said.

  “Just open the door and let me go down!” Janie screamed.

  The demon locusts angrily converged on the schoolhouse. Though Conrad and Darrion had checked all the windows, somehow a few locusts managed to get inside.

  “The kitchen pantry!” Vicki yelled.

  Janie ran for the back of the house, but a locust roared down the stairs and attacked. Janie flailed at the creature and knocked it to the wooden floor, but another flew after her. Conrad picked up a piece of firewood and knocked the beast against a wall. It lay there, stunned.

  Janie rushed into the pantry and grabbed the door. Just as she closed it, another locust darted inside.

  Janie’s screams pierced Vicki’s heart.

  36

  VICKI opened the pantry door and jumped back as the locust skittered out, flapping wildly and screeching, “Apollyon! Apollyon!”

  “I didn’t know those things could talk,” Conrad said. The locust flew past him and Conrad turned his head. “Disgusting.”

  Janie was still screaming, slapping at her legs and hair. “Get it off me! Get it off!”

  “It’s gone,” Vicki said.

  Janie quivered and twitched from her locust bite. The demonic venom was shooting through her veins. Vicki saw only one bite, on Janie’s face, and it was beginning to swell. “Am I—am I going to die?” Janie managed.

  “No,” Vicki said. But you’ll wish you could, Vicki thought.

  Vicki and Conrad helped Janie into an upstairs room and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. When they returned downstairs, a dozen locusts were gathered around the door to the basement, biting, clawing, and scratching to get inside. One flew menacingly at Vicki and landed on her back. The thing hissed, as if trying to keep Vicki from helping the people downstairs.

  Conrad knocked the locust off. “Plug any holes you can find. I’ll see if I can get rid of these guys.”

  Conrad picked up a piece of firewood and swung at a hovering locust. He hit it solidly, and the creature crashed into the wall behind Vicki and fell to the floor.

  Vicki bent over to inspect it. She was sickened by the sight but at the same time intrigued. “Conrad, come look at this.”

  The blow from the firewood had stunned the locust. Its segmented belly rose and fell as it breathed. Its body was shaped like a tiny horse armed for war. The thing had wings like a flying grasshopper.

  “Fascinating,” Conrad said as he inched closer. “It’s a mix between a horse and a man.”

  “Look at those teeth,” Vicki said.

  The locust opened its eyes and screamed, “Apollyon!” It flew toward Vicki, but Conrad had a bead on it. He swung the wood and knocked the locust against the wall with a terrible blow. Vicki thought the beast would surely have cracked in two, but it lay in one piece, its wings clicking.

  Conrad picked it up. “No wonder we can’t kill the thing—its back feels stronger than the safe. And it’s got little spines.”

  “Put it down,” Vicki said.

  “Grab that bucket by the fireplace,” Conrad said. “We’ll trap it.”

  Vicki brought the heavy bucket and put it upside down. Conrad held the locust close to her. “This is the stinger here. You can almost see through it. And that has to be the venom.” A liquid substance sloshed as Conrad moved. “What do you think it’s saying?”

  “Tsion told us that the king over these things is the chief demon in the pit. He rules over all the demons of hell. In Greek the name is Apollyon. It’s something different in Hebrew.”

  “If these really are demons,” Conrad said, “they’ve got to want to kill us.”

  “But they can’t,” Vicki said. “Just shows you God can use even his enemy for his own purposes.”

  The creature opened its eyes. Vicki screamed. Conrad threw it on the floor and quickly put the bucket over it. The locust beat its wings against the bucket but couldn’t get out. Inside, the tiny voice screamed again and again, “Apollyon! Apollyon!”

  Mark ran back to the car and found Carl in the backseat, stuffing tissues and trash into a crack in one of the back windows. The locusts had found the spot and were trying to crawl through.

  Mark found an empty beer bottle nearby and swatted the locusts away. The metal backs of the monsters pinged as Mark swung the glass.

  “What are these things?” Carl yelled frantically.

  “Demons,” Mark said.

  “Why aren’t they bothering you?”

  “They know I have the seal of God on my forehead,” Mark said. “They can’t hurt me.”

  Carl looked puzzled. “That stuff John told me about God … it’s really true?”

  Mark leaned close to the window. “It’s your only hope against these things and against being separated from God forever.”

  “I came up her
e to tell you John’s story,” Carl yelled. “What he did haunts me. I read some of the stuff about God, but I felt so worthless. I could never do what John did. I don’t deserve—”

  “None of us deserves what God gives us,” Mark said. “But he wants to forgive us and make us part of his family.”

  “I want that,” Carl said.

  Another swarm of locusts descended on the car. Their beating wings were deafening. Some landed on Mark, hissing. He was surprised by how much they weighed. He shook them off and tried to clear the window. It was as if the demons didn’t want Mark to talk with Carl about God.

  “What do I need to do?” Carl shouted.

  “Pray with me,” Mark said. “God, I’m sorry for the bad things I’ve done. I believe Jesus died for me and took my punishment. Change me right now and make me your child. And help me to live for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

  The locusts hissed as Carl said, “Amen.”

  Judd sat still as the plane taxied to the terminal. The locusts covered the plane, hissing and chanting something. It sounded like “A bad one! A bad one!” Finally Judd recognized the word from having read Tsion Ben-Judah’s Web site. It was Abbadon, the Hebrew word for the chief demon of the bottomless pit. “Abbadon, Abbadon,” the locusts hissed, calling out to their demonic leader.

  People around Judd were terrified, holding hands over their ears and crying. Judd knew if they did manage to get to the terminal, it was unlikely anyone would be able to help them connect the ramp. Already he could see baggage handlers and maintenance workers writhing in pain on the runway.

  As they approached the terminal, Judd stood and squeezed into the aisle. He searched for anyone with the mark of the believer.

  When he reached first class, a flight attendant yelled at him to sit down. He shook his head.

  “Get back in your seat, sir, or I’ll have to call the captain!” the flight attendant said.

  “I want to volunteer,” Judd said. “Those things out there are stinging people, but I can help.”

  The flight attendant pulled Judd into the galley and closed the curtain. She whispered, “I won’t have you upsetting the passengers.”