But Tori would not be moved. “Like I said, you can join us or not.”
“She’s going to get us all killed,” Aaron mumbled as they headed out.
Thomas agreed. It seemed this God of theirs was leading them straight to the guillotine.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:14-15
Chapter 20
Lord, are you sure about this?The closer they got to Atlanta, the more demons Tori saw. They were everywhere—congregating near homeless camps, hovering around NWU housing facilities, sitting on top of nightclubs and walking amongst the crowds lining up to get their food allotment. She’d expected to see more of the vile creatures near highly populated places, but so many? Their stench and the oppressive weight of darkness was overwhelming. Even so, she knew the Lord was with them—saw scattered glimpses of the angels guarding them, a flash of light here, a beam of brilliance there. More than that, she felt their mighty presence. And she thanked the Lord for their protection every day.
They needed the heavenly warriors now more than ever, especially as they made their way through Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta. It was one thing to avoid drones and cameras in rural areas but near a large city where every cockroach was surveilled, well, that was another thing entirely.
She glanced up at one such camera mounted on top of 6G dispersion equipment high on a pole. Leading the group around the back of it, she hoped to avoid being seen, but it swung in their direction.
Lord, help us, she prayed as she did each time they’d been unable to avoid other cameras. Either the Lord was truly making them invisible, or something else was going on. By all accounts, they should have been recognized long ago by the surveillance AI and surrounded by a dozen NWU police. The thought settled uncomfortably in her mind, like an annoying gnat, nibbling bit by bit at her reason.
They passed in front of an old 7-11 with broken windows boarded up by sheets of wood—a relic of days gone by when you could drive up and get a Coke Slurpy or cup of hot coffee. A time of innocence, or at leastperceivedinnocence. Tori had since learned that the Satanists had actually been running the planet from behind closed doors for hundreds of years. Much of the history of the US and the world they’d been taught in school were lies. But what did it matter now?
Laughter brought her gaze back to Sara who was smiling at something Aaron said. It was good to see the young girl laugh, but that niggling sensation rose within her again whenever she looked at the old man. Something wasn’t right, but Tori couldn’t put her finger on it. Beyond them, Thomas carried Carla while Brianna fidgeted with a whining Callie. Maybe they should all stop for a rest.
Sunlight disappeared and Tori glanced up to see a series of roiling black clouds forming across the sky. A raindrop splattered on her forehead.
“Come on!” she shouted, making a dash for the underside of a freeway on-ramp ahead. By the time they all ran beneath, the skies unleashed a torrent of rain, more rain, in fact, than Tori had seen in quite some time due to the global drought.
Unfortunately, they were not alone. Several homeless tents snuggled against the concrete wall just yards away. Thomas saw them too, and they exchanged a glance of concern.
“Let’s sit down for a minute and rest our legs until it passes.” Tori wanted to talk with Sara, anyway, and maybe the homeless would leave them alone.
The sweet scent of rain filled the air, and Tori drew in a deep breath, a simple pleasure in the middle of so much pain.Thank you, Lord.
“I’ll grab everyone’s bottles and collect the rain,” Thomas said with a smile.
“Good idea.”
The man was becoming more useful than she would have ever expected.
Hugging herself, Sara sank down against the concrete wall and closed her eyes.
“You feeling okay?” Tori knelt beside her, wiping a strand of hair from her face.
“Yeah. I just want to get better, you know?” She swallowed. “I’m sick. I feel like crap. I have a killer headache that won’t go away. I can hardly keep down any of that manna everyone’s eating, and I can’t sleep. Look at me.” She glanced at her body. “I’m wasting away.” Tears filled her eyes. “Even in rehab, they give people drugs to get by. I just need…I just need… a little, you know? Just to keep me going.” A tear slid down her cheek, and she batted it away.
Tori’s heart sank. “I know it’s super hard.”
“No, you don’t!” Sara’s eyes flared.
Tori bit her lip. “Okay. Maybe not exactly what you are feeling, but I also was in rehab. You know that.”
“But they help you.” Sara’s eyes drifted to Aaron assisting Thomas with the bottles. “He says he can get me something to help.”
Shocked, Tori looked at the man. “Oh, he does, does he?” She huffed, then faced Sara again. “You’re almost done. You’re at the end now. Don’t quit on me.” Leaning over, Tori hugged her, squeezing her hard. “I love you, girl,” she whispered in her ear. “We are going to make it.”
When she pulled back, tears streamed down Sara’s face. “Thank you. I’m just so hungry, so tired. I’m not strong like you.”
