|d arourid at what was her head and tossed her
¡ft of the room. Dirt, hair up out of her face.
ocks, bricks and mortar Her forehead was clean
fete piled high where the , and white. John leaned
poronce had be,en. The toward her and looked
It of the room < was in- more closely in the
ict. The plaster had darkness. There was no
jlien from the ceiling, but mistaking if. The girl had
[e steel girders had held no mark. He stared at her
lough the quake.
in disbelief.
“I bear no mark but that
“1 guess ,we tnade it
trough that one,” he of my , father,” she said
quietly.
gaily said. !
“And where are your
“Until the air runs out,”
Bale replied, “then we die parents, Sue?”
“They were put 4n
anyway, unless we can
|outjM
prison about three years
John suddenly , felt ago for taking part in
leak anck lightheaded. a riot and refusing to take
His arm was throbbing the mark. Now I believe
|th pain, and the shirt he they are with my father.”
‘How many fathers do
¡rad wrapped it with was
completely soaked with you . have? Are your
rood. He topk a few parents with your gran
steps and sat down on the dfather?”
[oor to rest. Dale had
The girl turned to face
already found the butcher him before answering.
life and was using it as a Her
eyes
had
a
shovel to dig through the mysterious glow about
enprmous pile of rock. them.
‘Tam speaking of Jesus
John leaned against the
[all and applied pressure Christ, my Lord and
lothe wound in an attem- Saviour and the Father of
|to stop the bleeding,, all creation.” Her voice
men the girl tore a long became quiet, ^‘ff only I
¡trip of cloth from the hem had known Him then, as
Iher tattered skirt and my parents did. Then I
fegan to.bind up the might be with Him even
|undJ She worked now.”
Ickly and seemed to
John looked at her
inow what she was steadily. He knew that he
ling.
would never get'out of the
“Where idid you learn hole Dale was frantically
B aid?” John asked as digging—for what? Even
¡he wrapped his aching if he should get through
hundreds of feet of bricks
¡boulder.
“My mother was a nur- and mortar and rubble,
¡e,” she replied slowly, “I what then? Die of
radiation? Most likely.
earned from her.”
It was a hard question , Even if they should
jut Johri; knew he escaoe and leave the
country, where would
would have to ask.
“And was* she...your they go? It was the same
everywhere. There was
“No, they let me stay only one thing to be sure
Ire-Wa
of...that the whole world,
"Didn’t they feed you? the whole rotten, stinking
fou look like you haven’t world, was doomed to
Somehow,
eaten a thing in mon- destruction.
he thought, this girl, Sue,
“I told you,/ they had the answer. She was
[eren’t my parents. It physically starving, but
|sn’t their responsibility, her soul was content. He
besides, food is scarce is woke from his trance and
bese times. Even . you found that she was
1st know that.”
kneeling beside him,
When she. finished wrapping ' his legs with
lapping his arm, she sat some rags she had been
lown beside him. John using as a bed.
“Won’t be needing
Med her closely. He
»as finding it very hard-to these anymore,” she said
quietly. Then she looked
|lieve her story.
“Couldn’t you get food into his eyes. “And what
Eons? I know it’s not. is your name?”-
|ch, but it’s'better than
“John.” .
Ming.
/“John-, our time . is
“1 can’t get them. I’m a short. Even now I can see
His coming. That’s why
Wive, you know/’
I’m not afraid of this awful
Before John coujd world. For me there is a
W, the girl threw back way out. There can be for
’Pring-summer 1979
you, too, if you choose to
believe. John, believe
in the Son of Man. Only
He can set us free.”W
“I believe, ” John said
slowly.
“Then, John, even if
you die tonight, you shall
be free.”
Dale swung the
butcher knife
in a deadly arc
above
his
head...
A sudden wave of
peace swept over him,
and.he leaned back again
st the wall to try to get
some , sleep. But sleep
would not come. The
nain in his arm and
shoulder was too great.
He lay instead to ponder
the things that Sue had
said to him. After about
an hour he looked up and
saw Dale standing near
the place was Sue was
sleeping, holding the but
cher knife in his hand. His
eyes.... had an eerie,
faraway, crazed look in
them. He was covered
with dirt and his hands
were blistered
and
bleeding. John' watched
him closely, trying to read
his thoughts. Then Dale’s
last
words ‘flooded
out...Until the air -runs
out... Then, we
die
anyway unless we can dig
out...Until the air runs
out...
Attacked
“Dale, no! No Dale, not
that, - please, no! You’re
crazy!” John found him
self yelling as he scram
bled to his feet, but it was
too late. Dale swing the
butcher knifea deadly
arc above his head and let
it sink into Sue’s chest
while she lay .there, still
sleeping. John heard the
sickening thud
and
became instantly filled
with rage. He rushed at
Dale like a madman and
swung wildly with his
good arm at what he
believed to be the face of
a demon. His blows were
intercepted by the butcher
knife until his arm was
shredded and useless.
Then Dale threw him
against the wall and began
pushing the "knife into his
bare stomach. John v
could feel the blade sink
deeper and deeper and
the horrible pain caused
him the scream uncon
trollably.
Instantaneous thoughts
began to flow through his
mind. Thoughts of Sue,
dying of starvation in a-
stinking hole. Thoughts of
Jesus, dying of crucific-
tion
in - a
stinking
_world...so that he, John
Carpenter, might live. He
remembered Sue’s words,
believe and you shall be
free. Free ' in God’s
ko v e ... t h e ultimate,
freedom. Then he felt the
ground begin to shake
beneath his feet once
more. A loud rumble that
seemed to come from the
depths of the earth began
to drown out even his
own screaming. Dale
pulled the knife, and
began to back away from
him. A look of sheer
terror came over his face
once more. John could
feel his legs buckle and he
fell to the floor. The
pressure of the knife had
been holding him up. As
he lay there in a puddle of
his own warm blood,
John
realized
that
he no longer felt any pain.
Pain
was somehow
distant and far' away. It
was no longer a part of
him. He was dying. Then
another sound, much
louder than the quake it
self, began to flow
through the air. It was soft
and
mellow,
yet
somehow loud
and
commanding. John
thought that he might be
dreaming, but he opened
his eyes and saw that Dale
had heard the sound, too.
He was, in fact, holding
his ears and screaming.
John felt somehow called
to the sound, but his body
was incapable of even the
slightest movement. He
listened closely as the.
sound began to change in
pitch and hue, like colors
flashing before his eyes.
'He likened it to the. sound
of a trumpet,
yet
unhuman to the point of
being immortal .Yes, it was
truly immortal. The next
thought that penetrated
John’s mind was borne
in the minds of every
living being on the earth at
the very same moment,
the sound of the begin
ning of the end. Christ
was corning to reclaim
what was rightfully His
from the beginning of
time.
The Bridegroom
John felt a new strength
beginning to flow into
him. His useless mortal
body was being healed
and transformed before
his very eyes. He felt him
self standing in response
the call of the trumpet and
he looked : across the
room,
which
was
strangely filled with light.
Dale was thrashing his
. body wildly against the
wall, possessed with the
idea of killing himself. He
picked up the' knife and
slashed
his
throat
repeatedly. He was ob
viously in terrible pain, but
his body would not die.
John turned from the ugly
scene and looked at the
place where Sue . had
been lying. She was not
there! Then, looking up,
he saw her. She was
standing, dressed in a
flowing robe of white, like
the most beautiful bride
he had ever laid eyes
upon. She stood still for a
moment, looking directly
into his eyes.
“Behold,” she said to
him, her body trembling
with
emotion,
“the
Bridegroom cometh.”
Then John looked and
saw that the walls, the
ceiling, the very foun
dation that he was stan
ding on, were crumbling.
All three of them,
however, were left un
touched. They found
themselves suddenly
standing on level gound.
Dale was a pitiful sight.
His bloodied flesh was
nearly unrecognizable,
but he was trying to bury
himself in the earth as if to
hide. Then John turned
and looked at Sue. Her
eyes were transfixed in
the direction of the most
brilliant light that John
had ever seen. John, too,
looked into the light. And
he saw Him. His eyes
were blazing like fire, and
on his head were many
kingly crowns. He was
dressed in a robe of
red... dipped, in blood .r
And he was called the
Word of God, King of
Kings, and Lord of Lords.
page 15