Left Behind Kids - Death Strike Part 2

"Use it and go," she said.

"G.o.d will take care of us."

"Yeah," Mark said.

"Exercise your faith. You've been depending on your dad's bank account."

One week later at the reopening celebration inJerusalem, Judd and Bruce stood shoulder to shoulder with thousands who looked on from theTempleMount. The temple was everything planners said it would be. And more. Nicolae Carpathia welcomed dignitaries from around the world and congratulated the Israelis.

"Look," Bruce said, pointing to Eli and Moishe. The two witnesses slowly walked to the temple side of theGolden Gate, much to the disdain of the crowd. They were jeered and hissed and booed, but no one dared approach, let alone try to harm them. "This should be interesting," Bruce said.

"I don't think those two have been away from the Wailing Wall more than once."

The crowd murmured as the witnesses approached. Judd thought Nicolae Carpathia sensed something.

"Israelhas rebuilt the temple to hasten the return of their Messiah," Eli and Moishe suddenly shouted in unison, "not realizing that the true Messiah has already come!"

The crowd near the witnesses shrank back, while others continued their shouting against them.

"Israelhas built a temple of rejection!" Eli and Moishe continued.

"Israelremains largely unbelieving and will soon suffer for it!"

Carpathia's eyes flashed as he railed, "Do not let these vagabonds of violence detract from this momentous day, my friends!"

Without microphones, Eli and Moishe spoke loudly enough for all to hear, crying out in the courtyard as they drowned out Carpathia with their words.

"Enemy of G.o.d," they called, "you yourself will one day defile and desecrate this temple!"

"Nonsense!" Nicolae said. He turned to those behind him, dearly frustrated.

"Is there not a military leader inIsraelwith the fort.i.tude to silence these two?"

Judd strained to hear as the Israeli prime minister stepped forward.

"Sir, we have become a weaponless society."

"These two are weaponless as well!" Nicolae thundered.

"Subdue them!"

But Eli and Moishe continued, "G.o.d does not dwell in temples made with hands!"

Bruce turned to Judd.

"We needed to be here. The news media won't show all of this. Our Web site may be the only place people can get the true picture of what's happened."

"Do you wish to listen to me or to them?" Nicolae yelled to the crowd.

"You, Potentate! You!"

"There is no potentate but G.o.d himself!" Eli responded.

And Moishe added, "Your blood sacrifices shall turn to water, and your water-drawing to blood!"

Before leavingIsrael, Judd returned to the home of Rabbi Tsion Ben-Judah to interview the rabbi'sstepchildren for the Underground.

Clan and Nina seemed overjoyed to see Judd again, but he could tell they were nervous about something. I "We live under suspicion," Nina said.

"And I it has become worse. Our neighbors have stopped helping us go to and from the house."

"The threats against my father are growing," Clan said.

"We have talked about the possibility of coming to your country."

Judd gave them his phone number and E-mail address.

"If you need to leave, get in touch," he said.

"My friends and I would love to help."

The secret place. Ryan Daley felt most at home there now.

The only drawback was that he couldn't takePhoenixwith him.Phoenix's bark would give them away. In the middle of stacks of Bibles Ryan could disappear for hours. Not that anyone would care, he thought.

They're all so busy, they don't think about me.

This was his place to think. To read. He kept pictures of his parents hidden away and remembered life before the world changed. He had lived through an incredible thirteenth year.

His mom and dad were dead. His best friend had been raptured and Lionel, who was both friend and foe at times, had leftGlobalCommunityMiddle Schoolfor Nicolae High, so Ryan felt alone. Judd was either traveling with Bruce or buried in his studies.

Vicki had been gone a long time and now lived in a different house.

Ryan was changing as well. He had grown taller and leaner over the summer, only a few inches shorter than Judd. The rest of the Young Trib Force didn't call him "little guy" anymore. His voice embarra.s.sed him. He tried to keep it low, but at the worst times it cracked and made him want to keep quiet.

Ryan counted most on Bruce Barnes and Chloe Steele. Bruce spent his time studying, preparing for sermons, or traveling. But Chloe had occasionally taken time for Ryan while Vicki had been gone. Chloe was the older sister of his best friend, Raymie.

"Do you ever think of them?" Ryan asked one day.

"Your mom and your little brother?"

"All the time," Chloe had said.

"When I see you, it makes me wonder what Raymie would look like now."

"Bet it's hard to be around me," he said. "Just the opposite," Chloe said.

Now Ryan sat alone, surrounded by Bibles he had confiscated from abandoned homes. He had been studying the book of Acts with Bruce and was fascinated with the miraculous things G.o.d had done in the lives of the early Christians. He wanted G.o.d to do the same with him.

He read in Acts 2: "" And it shall come to pa.s.s in the last days, says G.o.d, that I will pour out of My spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. "" Ryan asked Bruce later that day, "Does that mean I'm going to have a vision?"

"Not necessarily," Bruce said.

"But G.o.d has already shown himself in a miraculous way in your life."

"How?" Ryan said.

"In Joel it says that G.o.d will give signs in the earth-blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will darken, and the moon will become blood red before Jesus returns."

"I'd like to see that," Ryan said.

"It'll be a terrible day," Bruce said.

"But look at Acts 2:21: "And it shall come to pa.s.s that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. " That's what happened to you. I'd say that's a miracle."

Vicki met with Chloe Steele soon after she returned. Chloe had worked side by side with Bruce and wanted to bring Vicki up to speed on the changes within the adult Tribulation Force.

"I'm worried about my dad," Chloe said.

"He lives here but flies Global Community One out ofNew York. It's hard on him. Plus, working for Carpathia is difficult."

"Why does he do it?"

"He believes that's what G.o.d wants."

"What about your relations.h.i.+p with Mr. Williams?" Vicki said.

Chloe shook her head.

"My dad says he may be married before Buck and I are."

"Your dad? Marry who?"

"Amanda White," Chloe said.

"She knew my mom. It took my dad some time, but they're getting serious." "Buck hasn't proposed?" Vicki said.

"No, and I'm not going to push him. The night he left forNew Yorkhe told me he wished I could come with him."

"Why didn't you?"

"That would have been appropriate," Chloe said, sarcastically.

"Anyway, being apart has helped me love him even more."

"At least you know how he feels, right?"

Chloe blushed.

"What?" Vicki said.

"Tell me."

"I was helping him pack. We'd held hands but never kissed. I told him he wouldn't miss me as much as I would miss him, and he dropped his packing tape and looked at me. He said there was no possible way I could care for him more than he cared for me. And then he said, "You are my whole life. I love you, Chloe." " " Ohhhh," Vicki said as she scooted in her chair and rubbed her arms.

"Do you think you'll get married?"

"We know the time is short," Chloe said.

"If G.o.d thinks we can work better together than apart, I want it too. But I'm not going to chase him.

There's too much to do to waste time looking out for myself."

Judd was impressed with how Lionel and Ryan had taken over the Web site. During studies with Bruce, the two furiously took notes. Soon Bruce's teachings were on the Web site.

They worked hard at using graphics and animation as well.

Lionel and Ryan scrolled Bruce's Scripture references at the bottom of the screen. And they added icons linking news stories to the prophecies.

The Web site seemed risk-free because John and Mark had set up a system so they couldn't be traced.

Lionel and Ryan answered E-mails and sent information to those who asked. Many of the hits came from readers of the Underground at Nicolae High. Word had also spread to surrounding schools, and the kids saw messages from other states and even other countries.

But the Underground became more risky. Because of their dwindling money, the Young Tribulation Force scaled back their distribution to only once a month. And they had to be more and more creative getting it to students. One month they printed business cards with the Web site address and placed them on car winds.h.i.+elds and in the seats of school buses. Another month they placed copies of the Underground inside popular magazines and books in the library. No one knew where the Underground would show up next. Judd worried about the reaction to Bruce's warnings. Judd expected the Global Community to call Bruce a "kook" and even "hateful," but it seemed even many believers were tired of his gloom and doom predictions.

"I don't care what others think," Bruce said at their next meeting.

"We have another year of peace before the next three hors.e.m.e.n of the Apocalypse appear. Once that happens, seventeen more judgments will come."

Judd handed Bruce an E-mail from the Web site.

"What do we say to this guy?"

Bruce studied the paper and frowned.

"Everybody has his or her own interpretation of the Bible," the message read.

"Stop trying to scare people into believing what you believe."

"Don't respond," Bruce said.

"People didn't believe Jesus was who he said he was before the Rapture.

Why should it be different now?"

"Because of all that's happened," Vicki said.

"I can't believe people can't see."