Daniel 11:32
Chapter 17
Is everyone all right?” Tori swallowed a lump of terror and dread as she scanned the room. Her eyes took in each person and, upon finding them all uninjured, she allowed herself to breathe.
“What the heck was that?” Sara asked, terror streaking across her dark eyes.
“A drone attack,” Thomas mumbled, but his focus remained on the shattered front window.
Callie began to scream, and Brianna drew her close. “Shh, sweetheart. It’s okay. It’s okay now.”
Carla gripped Thomas's hand. “They protected us,” she said with more confidence than any three-year-old should have after being shot at.
Only then did Tori notice the bullet holes littering the room, nicking tables, walls, doors and punching holes in pillows and chairs.
“How did they find us? And more importantly, why did they leave?” Moving to the window, she glanced up. Nothing but the usual gray haze that had replaced the blue sky in recent years.
Aaron stood off to the side, arms crossed over his chest, smiling. “They probably saw the surge of power when we turned on the TV. They monitor such things, you know. That’s why they keep the electricity on.”
Hmm. Of course. He might be right.
“Okay, we need to get out of here ASAP.” Tori headed for the kitchen. “Go to the bathroom if you have to. I’ll grab the food and bottles of water.”
And once again, before they’d even had time to rest, they were on the run. Pulling a map out of her backpack, she plotted the best route. They would skirt the coast for a few miles, then head inland toward Atlanta, through Athens, and then up to what used to be the Chattahoochee National Forest, where Nyla said they’d meet her. If they kept a good pace and avoided authorities, they could make it in under two weeks. She glanced over her shoulder at Aaron as he hobbled along, then over to Sara who hugged herself, shaking, and finally to Brianna, baby strapped around her chest.
Maybe she was being too optimistic.
Lord, I don’t know what I’m doing. How can I possibly keep all these people safe? She pursed her lips. Why hadn’t she sensed the drone attack? She should have known it was coming and taken every precaution. They could have all been killed. What was wrong with her? Shoving back her wayward hair, she shook her head. Something was off, something was wrong. An evil presence? Maybe that’s why her Godly discernment was off. No, she was being silly. Of course there was an evil presence. They were in the Tribulation.
Laughter drew her gaze to Aaron putting his hand on Thomas's shoulder. Good. Thomas needed a strong male, a father figure, and it was good that Aaron was a Godly man.
???
Thomas beamed at Aaron’s surprise when he’d given the man his full name.
“I knew I’d seen you somewhere before,” Aaron said. “So, you and that Daniel fellow were the top dogs at that huge church?”
Thomas nodded, pulling his hood up farther on his head as they crossed a street and started down a dirt path beside an old canal. “That was us. Pastored that church for several years. We had up to thirty-thousand members.”
“Wow.” Aaron whistled. The wrinkles at the edges of his eyes crinkled as he squinted at the sun. “Such a great accomplishment.”
“Yeah, we thought so at the time.”
“What happened?”
“The Neflams arrived. They took a good portion of our church for reformation.” Thomas frowned. “Whoops. Sorry. I know you don’t believe that, but I’m not fully convinced of this Rapture thing.”
“No problem, son. We all have our beliefs. Not worth fighting over.”
Thomas looked at his new friend curiously. How refreshing to find a Deviant who didn’t try to force the God of the Bible down his throat. “Glad to hear it. Anyway, Daniel took the disappearance badly. His girlfriend and son were taken, and he sort of flipped out after that. The church dissolved, and I followed other pursuits.”
Aaron stumbled over a rock, and Thomas reached out to steady him. “Regardless, quite some success you had. Your parents must have been so proud. Graduated from seminary, running such a huge church. That’s no small feat.”
A surge of pride swelled within him, along with a yearning to hear more. “My mother left my father when I was young, and my father was never proud of me. He was a deacon with a great deal of influence in the Lutheran church, and he was disappointed that I started a non-denominational church.”
“Bah! Ridiculous.” Aaron stomped his cane in the dirt.
“Yeah, he was pretty strict when I was growing up. I never measured up.”
