"Cut down this alley," John said.
"There"s a convenience store down here Mark talked about. The owner might know something."
When they pulled off the street, Judd noticed Mark"s truck parked in the back.
John ran toward the vehicle. He skidded to a stop and peered through the window. Judd fell in behind him. On the seat of the truck, flat on his face, lay Mark.
"Oh no," John said. When Judd opened the door, Mark sat up. He wore his battle fatigues, and his face was painted green and black.
"Don"t say it," Mark said.
"You were right."
"Are you OK?" John said.
"They"re all gone," Mark said.
"How did you make it out?" Judd said.
"Major Evers sent the younger guys out just before the attack. He must have known."
"Come on," John said.
"This area will be crawling with GC in a few minutes. Come back for the truck later."
Judd brought his car around and hustled Mark into the trunk.
Tears were Vicki"s first response to Brace"s death. The more she thought of him, the more she felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. There were no words for the pain.
Bruce had never asked to be called "Dad" or "Father," but in many ways she felt closer to him than to her real dad. Now Bruce was gone, and she wanted to scream. At the same time she was overcome by a stillness and a peace she couldn"t explain.
After a few minutes she realized there was more to do. Ryan, she thought. Vicki called Lionel, but there was still no sign of him. She and Chaya held each other and wept as they waited for word about her mother. Suddenly Vicki spotted Chaya"s father running toward the morgue area. Officials shooed him away. He stood behind the yellow tape and stared at the ground.
A nurse finally led Chaya toward the temporary morgue. Vicki watched as Mr. Stein ran to Chaya. The nurse checked her clipboard and led them stiffly away. Vicki saw Chaya look at her father, but it appeared he did not return her glance.
Vicki thought about Bruce. He had treated her like she was his own, and now he was gone. When Vicki allowed that thought, she staggered. The pain cut so deep, it was almost unbearable.
There would be a time of grieving, she knew. Now she had to concentrate. Vicki called Lionel.
"Ryan?" she said.
"His bike is gone," Lionel said.
"And he leftPhoenix."
Chaya returned without her father, beaming through her tears.
Judd weaved through traffic and onto side streets. He had to get Mark to safety before the CC resumedtheir search. Judd saw a roadblock and turned down another side street. Global Community peacekeepers were scouring each car.
After nearly an hour, Judd pulled into his garage. Mark was exhausted. He tore off his fatigues and ran past Lionel for the shower. Judd found him a change of clothes.
"Vicki said Chaya identified her mom"s body," Lionel said.
Judd slumped into a kitchen chair.
Chaya put her head on Vicki"s shoulder and wept.
"I"m so sorry," Vicki said.
"She looked so beautiful."
"How is your father?"
Chaya shook her head. She held up a crumpled piece of paper, the note she had given her mother that morning.
"Mom always wrote everything down," Chaya said.
"We"d find notes all over the house."
Chaya turned the paper over, and Vicki saw Mrs. Stein"s handwriting.
"Forgive me. G.o.d. Help me live for you and for your Son, Jesus, the Messiah."
Everybody met at Judd"s house that evening, and he stood before pale, frightened faces. What would they do without Bruce? How would they find Ryan? And would they have to face further conflict in the future?
"This is a terrible day," he said.
"And we have to face the fact that Ryan may have been"-"Don"t write him off yet," Lionel said, his voice quavering.
"He"s tough."
"Bruce said once that one of the hardest things you ever have to do is let go of someone you care about," Judd said.
"I"m telling you, don"t count him out!" Lionel sobbed.
"I"m sorry," Judd said.
"All we can do is try to stay safe and honor the memory of our friends by telling everybody the truth about G.o.d, no matter what the cost, no matter what anybody does. "
"I"m in," John said. "Me, too," Chaya whispered.
Vicki nodded, and Mark cleared his throat.
"I want to fight the enemy," he said.
"This time, I want to do it the right way."
Lionel rose and moved slowly toward the stairs.
"Lionel?" Vicki said, worried as much about him as about how she was going to cope with fresh grief.
He turned.
"You all can rah-rah about the future, and yeah, you can count me in. But don"t include me in cryin" over Ryan, "cause I"m not buying that yet. He"ll be back."
ABOUT THE AUTHORS.
Jerry B. Jenkins (www. jerry jenkins com) is the writer of the Left Behind series. He is author of more than one hundred books, of which six have reached the New York Times best-seller list. Former vice president for publishing for the Moody Bible Inst.i.tute of Chicago, he also served many years as editor of Moody magazine and is now Moody"s writer-at-large.
His writing has appeared in publications as varied as Reader"s Digest, Parade, in-flight magazines, and many Christian periodicals. He has written books in four genres: Biography, marriage and family, fiction for children, and fiction for adults.
Jenkins"s biographies include books with Hank Aaron, Bill Gaither, Luis Palau, Walter Payton, Orel Hershiser, Nolan Ryan, Brett Butler, and Billy Graham, among many others.
Six of his apocalyptic novels-Left Behind, Tribulation Force, Nicolae, Soul Harvest, Apollyon, and a.s.sa.s.sins-have appeared on the Christian Booksellers a.s.sociation"s best-selling fiction list and the Publishers Weekly religion best-seller list. Left Behind was nominated for Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers a.s.sociation in 1997, 1998, and 1999.
As a marriage and family author and speaker, Jenkins has been a frequent guest on Dr. James Dobson"s Focus on the Family radio program.
Jerry is also the writer of the nationally syndicated sports story comic strip Gil Thorp, distributed to newspapers across theUnited Statesby Tribune Media Services.
Jerry and his wife, Dianna, live inColorado. Limited speaking engagement information available through com.
Dr. Tim LaHaye (www. timlahayeministries. org), who conceived the idea of fictionalizing an account of the Rapture and the Tribulation, is a noted author, minister, educator, and nationally recognized speaker on Bible prophecy. He presides over Tim LaHaye Ministries and is chairman and founder of thePre-Trib ResearchCenter. Presently Dr. LaHaye speaks at many of the major Bible prophecy conferences in the U. S.andCanada, where his eight current prophecy books are very popular.
Dr. LaHaye is a graduate ofBobJonesUniversityand holds the D. Min. from Western Theological Seminary and the Lit. D. fromLibertyUniversity. For twenty-five years he pa stored one of the nation"s outstanding churches inSan Diego, which grew to three locations. It was during that time that he founded two accredited Christian high schools, a Christian school system of ten schools, andChristianHeritage College.
Dr. LaHaye has written over forty books, with over 22 million copies in print in thirty-two languages. He has written books on a wide variety of subjects, such as family life, temperaments, and Bible prophecy.
His current fiction works, written by Jerry Jenkins-Le/t Behind, Tribulation Force, Nicolae, Soul Harvest, Apollyon, and a.s.sa.s.sins-have all reached number one on the Christian best-seller charts.
Other works by Dr. LaHaye are Spirit-Controlled Temperament; How to Be Happy though Married; The Act of Marriage; Revelation Unveiled; Understanding the Last Days; Rapture under Attack: Will You Escape the Tribulation7; Are We Living in the End Times?; and the youth fiction series Left Behind: The Kids.
He is the father of four children and grandfather of nine.
Snow skiing, waterskiing, motorcycling, golfing, vacationing with family, and jogging are among his leisure activities.
The Future Is Clear In one shocking moment, millions around the globe disappear.
Those left behind face an uncertain future-especially the four kids who now find themselves alone.
Best-selling authors Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye present the Rapture and Tribulation through the eyes of four friends- Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan. As the world falls in around them, they band together to find faith and fight the evil forces that threaten their lives.
#1: The Vanishing; Four friends face Earth"s last days together.
#2: Second Chance The kids search for the truth.
#3: Through the Flames The kidsrisk their lives.
#4: Facing the Future The kids prepare for battle.
#5: Nicolae High The Young Trib Force goes back to school. #6: The Underground The Young Trib Force fights back.
#7: Busted! The Young Trib Force faces pressure.
#8: Death Strike The Young Trib Force faces war.
BOOKS #9 AND #10 COMING SOON!.
Discover the latest about the Left Behind series and complete line of products atwww.leftbehind.com