“Impressive.”
Her brows crossed. “Not really. It’s all garbage compared to knowing Jesus.”
Thomas wanted to retch. “Come on, you can’t tell me your God doesn’t want you to be successful?”
“MyGod? Isn’t He your God, too?”
“I guess Tori didn’t tell you. I’m a bit of a skeptic.”
“Oh…I see. Well, that’s okay.” Brianna patted his leg. “We were all unbelievers once.”
Thomas stretched out the kink in his shoulders. “Let me put this question to you. If the world could go back to the way it was four years ago, you certainly wouldn’t give up everything you achieved for this Jesus.”
She smiled and shook her head as if he’d said something ludicrous. “If that’s what He wanted, absolutely!”
Thomas blew out a snort. Several minutes passed as a breeze whistled around the shack and entered through the many holes. He supposed he should be thankful he was feeling a little better. Not perfect, but much better than earlier in the day. The bread and oranges helped. Still, he could not believe he was sleeping in a broken-down shack with spiders and cockroaches when just two nights ago he’d slept in his bed, surrounded by every comfort.
His gaze landed on the babe in Brianna’s arms, then down to Carla lying with her head on her mother’s lap. “So, you had both kids after what Tori calls the Rapture?”
“Yes. I wasn’t saved then. Didn’t know the world was coming to an end. We thought things would get better after the Neflams came to help.”
“And they will. You’ll see.”
She chuckled again.
“What happened to your husband?”
Silence filled the shack with such sorrow, Thomas could almost feel it. “Never mind. I’m sorry to be so nosey.”
“No, it’s okay,” she finally said. “A meteor struck our home. He was the only one there at the time.”
“I’m sorry.” Thomas remembered the asteroids and meteors that had pummeled Earth the past three years, along with the volcanic eruptions, and the contamination of both sea and fresh water. Then there had been the painful sores that had lasted for five months. Thomas never wanted to endure that kind of agony again. The Neflams said some of the disasters were due to climate change, others had been perpetrated by the two crazy Jewish men, but most were the acts of a vengeful God—the God of the Christians.
Another reason to not follow Him.
“We miss him,” Brianna said, caressing Carla’s forehead. “But actually, it’s what brought me to the Lord.”
Of course. It was always some personal tragedy that made people join cults and believe lies.
“After Menotec went bankrupt and my husband was killed, I had nothing. I had lost everything. I was pregnant and living under a bridge with a two-year-old when Tori found me.”
Thomas glanced at the woman in question, a slight snore rumbling from her lips.
“She took me back to her home for orphans and unwed mothers. She took care of us, fed us, clothed us, and showed me in the Bible how everything that had happened was prophesied years ago.”
Thomas withheld a laugh.
“I gave my life to Jesus then and there, and I can tell you, Thomas, I have never regretted it.”
“And yet here you are on the run with two children, no food, and only the clothes on your back.”
“God takes care of us, and if He doesn’t, we will end up with Him in Heaven.”
Heaven, another ridiculous notion, a fairy tale place where only good people went. Pure nonsense. The illusion gave hope to the weak minded and those fearful of death. Why not side with the Neflams who claimed to have technology that would transform humans into eternal beings? Now, that was something tangible Thomas could grab a hold of.
A loud, shrieking noise clamored in Thomas's mind. What the heck? He attempted to sink back into the oblivion of sleep he’d only recently fallen into, but it grew louder. Had he set his alarm? He couldn’t remember. Reaching out his hand, he groped for the offending clock.
But instead of silky soft sheets, his fingers touched dirt. Instead of his digital clock, he struck a rock.
