Tim LaHaye - Left Behind Kids 02 - Second Chance

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Book 02
Second Chance
LEFT BEHIND
> THE KIDS <
Jerry B. Jenkins
______________
Tim LaHaye
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Wheaton, Illinois
_________________________
To Jim Pearl
_________________________
_________________________
CHAPTER ONE
New Hope
JUDDThompson Jr. had always sized up situa-tions quickly. It was clear to him that of the four kids
who had fled to nearby New Hope Village Church during the greatest crisis the world would ever see, he
was the oldest. The redhead, the only girl, had a hard, bitter edge to her. But still, if Judd had to guess, he
would have said she was younger than he was.
Ah, what did he care. How could he ever care about anything anymore? The end of the world, at least
the world as he knew it, had come. Millions all over the world had disap-peared right out of their clothes,
leaving every-thing but flesh and bone behind.
It wasn't that Judd didn't know what had happened. He knew all too well. As he had heard in church
and Sunday school and at home his whole life, Jesus Christ had come back to rapture his church, and
Judd had been left behind.
He even knew why. It didn't take the ear-nest visitation pastor of New Hope Village Church, Bruce
Barnes, to explain that. Of all things, Pastor Barnes himself had been left behind.
Bruce Barnes had spent the last several minutes telling Judd and the three other shell-shocked kids his
own story. He finished by telling them there was still hope. Life would be miserable from now on, of
course, and they would be alone except for other new believers, but it was not too late for them to come
to Christ.
Bruce had urged them to think about it and not to waste much time. The world had become dangerous
overnight. With so many Christians disappearing from important jobs, the result was chaos. No one had
any guaran-tees. Life was fragile. Judd was impressed that Bruce seemed so eager to convince them that
their only hope now was to trust Christ.
Judd knew it was the truth. He had to face himself, and he didn't like what he saw. His whole look, the
way he carried himself, the me-first attitude, the secret that he had never really become a Christian--- all
those things sickened him now.
Why had he wanted to appear so old? Why was it so important to him to know where he fit in every
crowd? Everything that ever mat-tered to him now seemed ridiculous. He had been a tough guy, a big
shot, the one with all the plans and schemes. He had stolen his dad's credit card and bought phony
identifica-tion papers that said he was old enough to travel on his own.Yeah, Judd thought,I was a real
player.
But though Judd had come to some hard realizations about himself, he still had a major problem. There
was no question Bruce was right. Judd didn't want to live without his family and without Christ. Though
he knew he had had every chance and could have been in heaven with his parents and brother and sister
right then, everything in him still fought to blame somebody else. But whom could he blame?
His parents had been wonderful examples to him. Even his little brother had recently asked Judd if he
still loved Jesus. If he couldn't blame his family and he didn't want to blame himself, that left only God. He
knew there was no future in blaming a perfect and holy God, but right then he had to admit that he didn't
much care for God's plan.
Whatever happened to the idea that God loved everybody and didn't want anybody to die and go to
hell? What kind of a God would leave a sixteen-year-old kid without his family?
Judd knew he wasn't thinking straight. In fact, he had to admit he was being ridicu-lous. But just then he
didn't like God very much. He was mad at God because there was no one else to be mad at.
Besides, Judd was grieving. No, his family had not died. But they might as well have. He was glad for
them, he guessed, that they had gotten their reward for believing. But that was of little comfort to him.
Bruce Barnes asked the four kids to intro-duce themselves and talk about themselves a bit. Judd didn't
see the point of that. Bruce began with the youngest boy, the little blond who appeared stocky and
athletic.
Judd was reminded of his own little brother, Marc. Marc and Marcie were twins, nine years old. Both
had been tremendously athletic. While Judd had lost interest in sports after Little League, Marc and
Marcie had seemed interested in every sport imagin-able. They had both been dark-haired and younger
and smaller than Ryan Daley, but still Judd found it hard to listen to the boy without thinking of them both.
Already he missed them more than he could say. Just being around someone even near their age cut like
a knife deep into his heart.
Ryan was telling his story at just above a whisper. Judd could tell the boy had spent a lot of time crying
that day. No doubt there would be more tears until he could cry no more.
"I don't know what I think about all this stuff you've been saying, Mr. Barnes. If it's true, I don't think
either of my parents went to heaven. For sure my mom didn't because she was killed on the road
sometime this morning. My dad was listed with the passen-gers that went down in a plane crash. I don't
think he would have been one of those who disappeared. I mean, he was great and I loved him, but he
never said anything about being a Christian or even going to church."
Ryan told about waking up to find his mother's note and then hearing from the police about her death.
When he stopped and buried his head in his hands, Bruce Barnes leaned forward and put a hand on his
shoulder. "So you've never, ever been in church before?"
"Well, not never," Ryan managed, raising his head. "Somebody invited me to one of those Bible school
things they have in the summertime at church once---"
"Vacation Bible School?" Bruce said.
"Yeah, that's it. But I was really little then and I don't remember much about it. My friend--- his dad's an
airline pilot--- wanted me to go to church with him here. I never did."
"And who was that?"
"His name was Raymie Steele. He tried to tell me all about this, the way you just did. I thought he was
nuts."
"What do you think now, Ryan?"
With that, Ryan buried his face in his hands again and sobbed. Bruce began to ask him something, but
Ryan wrenched away and shook his head. Judd thought he knew exactly how Ryan felt.
Bruce turned to Lionel Washington. Judd noticed that the lanky young boy with the smooth face and
chocolate complexion had sat expressionless since they had begun. His wide, dark eyes seemed to rarely
blink. He merely sat forward, his chin resting on his fist, listening. Judd couldn't tell if he was interested or
not, but something had brought him there.
Bruce asked Lionel if he knew any of the others. "No, but my sister Clarice knew Vicki here. They rode
the school bus together."
"How do you feel about all this?" Bruce said.
"Oh," Lionel said, "this is nothing new to me. I know exactly what happened. You're right, we all missed
it. The real Christians have gone to heaven, and we've all been left behind."
Ryan leaped from his seat and ran out, shouting through his sobs, "It's not fair! It's not fair! This is crazy!
Why would God do this?"
Judd, Bruce, Vicki, and Lionel watched him go. "Aren't you going to stop him?" Judd asked Bruce.
Bruce shook his head. "He'll be back. Where else does he have to go?"
Lionel, who seemed to Judd to have been shaken by Ryan's quick exit, finished his own story of having
grown up in a Christian family and gone to church all his life, only to never have made a true decision
himself to become a follower of Christ. "I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I can't say I'm
surprised or that I didn't get exactly what I deserved. I don't know if I believe there's really still a sec-ond
chance, but if there is, I want it."
"Believe me, there is a second chance," Bruce said, "and I think it's something you'll want to take
advantage of right away, don't you?"
"You better believe I already prayed the prayer," Lionel said. "If that's what you mean. I told God I was
sorry, begged his for-giveness, and asked him to save me once and for all. You're saying it's not too
late?"
"That's what I'm saying. Welcome to the family."
"To tell you the truth, sir," Lionel said,
"I'd rather be in heaven with my own fam-ily right now."
"You and me both," Bruce said.
Judd was stunned at how much he and Lionel had in common, though they had never even seen each
other before. Lionel, like Judd, also had a younger brother and sis-ter. And Judd and Lionel had been
raised in the church by Christian families.
Now it was Vicki's turn. "Well," she began with a quavery voice, "I guess I should have known better
too."
Judd noticed how young and scared she sounded for someone who said she was four-teen years old. Of
course, he felt very young and scared himself just then, but she looked like a tough girl. Whatever edge
there had been to her seemed to have been stolen away when her mother, father, and little sister had
been raptured. She told her story about grow-ing up in the trailer park about the weekend beer brawls
and dances that had one time, seemingly out of the blue, begun with an evangelist preaching for just a few
minutes and resulted in her parents becoming Chris-tians.
"I saw big changes in their lives," Vicki admitted, "but actually I hated it. I hated church, and I didn't
want to have anything to do with religion. They kept telling me it wasn't religion, it was Jesus, but I didn't
see the difference."
"Now you do, of course," Bruce said.
"Of course," she said.
"Forgive me for being pushy," Bruce said, "but what are you going to do about it now?"
Vicki looked down and busied herself trac-ing a pattern on the floor with the toe of her shoe. "Actually,
even though I know you're right, I just don't want to make a decision like this while I'm still in shock."
Bruce seemed to be trying gently to push her into seeing that, despite the trauma she had just been
through, she really shouldn't take more time. "You know the truth. That makes it your responsibility to act
upon it."
"I know," she whispered. But she would not return his gaze. Her body seemed rigid. To Judd it seemed
as if she was through lis-tening or talking about it. He was surprised when she looked up and appeared
to be lis-tening when it was his turn to tell his story.
Judd kept his account short. He merely mentioned that he too had been raised in a Christian home and
knew exactly what had happened. He told of his plan to run away from home and be his own person,
and how it had all come crashing down on him when the Rapture occurred while he was on a plane over
the Atlantic on the way to London.
"I have to say, though, Pastor Barnes, I feel like Vicki here. I know what I'msupposed to do, what I
should do, and what I'm sure Iwill do. But I just feel too much pressure. I can hardly get my mind
around the fact that I'll never see my family again."
Bruce stood and moved near to Judd. "Don't you kids see? That's my point! If I'm right and a
seven-year period of tribulation begins soon, it's unlikely any of us will live through it. We had better be
prepared to see God, or we'll wind up without him for all of eternity."
Judd knew Bruce was right, but he caught Vicki's glance and knew the two of them were still
determined not to be pushed. He only hoped that it wasn't simply a pride thing. He was pretty sure it
wasn't. He was way past pride now.
"I'm sorry, Pastor Barnes, but I just need more time to deal with all of this," Judd said.
"Me too," Vicki said.
"Don't be waiting too long now," Lionel said. "I waited way too long as it is."
"I couldn't have said that better myself," Bruce said.
_________________________
CHAPTER TWO
Vicki's Journey
IF THEREwas one thing Vicki Byrne was sure of when she left New Hope Village Church that day, it
was what she was feeling. No way around it, she decided. She felt guilty.
She stopped at the door and looked back to see Bruce Barnes sitting wearily, hands atop his head,
fingers entwined. He was almost imperceptibly shaking his head.
"I'm going to go look for that little kid," Lionel said, excusing himself as he slipped past her and out of the
church.
"We'll be back, I'm sure," Judd Thompson was telling Bruce. Vicki was certain of that too, and she felt
bad because she understood how much Bruce Barnes cared and how urgent he felt it was that they make
their decisions for Christ now.
Vicki started toward home, though it was the last place she wanted to go. That empty trailer would only
remind her how truly alone she was. She hesitated on the sidewalk, noticing the small bicycle someone
had left out front. She assumed it was Ryan's. There was nowhere else to go, nothing else to do. She
headed on foot for the trailer park.
Judd Thompson called to her from the door of the church. "So, what are you going to do?" he said.
"Same as you," she said. "Think it over. Do the right thing. We both know what that means. I just don't
want to do it when I'm so exhausted and keyed up at the same time."
"I know what you mean," Judd said. "But I meant what are you going to do right now?"
"Just go home I guess," she said.
"You want to go somewhere with me?"
"Like where?"
"I've got to go get my father's car. I left it at O'Hare."
Vicki shrugged. "Why not? How are we get-ting there? We gonna ride double on Ryan's bike?"
"That's my little brother's bike. I'm going to see if Bruce will let me leave that here. I was thinking of
taking a cab."
"You must have a lot more money than I do," Vicki said.
"That's one thing I'm not short of," Judd said. "But I'd trade it all to be in heaven right now."
"I know," Vicki said. "This is awful."
A few minutes later, Marc Thompson's bike was stored just inside the front door of the church and Judd
was on the phone to a cab company. It took forever to get a connec-tion and then for someone to
answer. He was told there would be a premium on the fare. "What does that mean?" he asked.
"That it's going to cost you triple the nor-mal amount. And we don't recommend try-ing to get into
O'Hare. It's still a mess."
"I need to get my car out of there," Judd said.
"That parking garage is a disaster. A bunch of people disappeared while driving out of there, and their
crashed cars left a gridlock that's going to take days to untangle."
"I still have to try," Judd said. "I want to make sure it's OK and get it before someone steals it."
"Suit yourself. Somebody should be there for you within the hour."
Vicki and Judd sat on the curb, waiting. She didn't recall having seen this boy before. Despite his scruffy
look, it was clear to her Judd was a rich kid. Their paths would not have crossed for long, had they ever
met. Vicki felt an unexplained need to keep some sort of conversation going. Though she hated the idea
of facing that trailer, what she really wanted was to get home to her own bed and bury her face in the
pillow and cry over all that she had lost. What a waste her life had been, she decided.
Still, she was grateful for something to do, somewhere to go, someone to be with. She asked Judd to tell
her more about his family. He cried as he told her, and that made her cry too. "We're both going to have
to do the right thing here soon, aren't we?" she said.
"I know," Judd said.
The cab arrived nearly two hours later.
"Sorry it took me so long," the cabby said. He was a burly man in a sleeveless T-shirt. He looked as if
he could use some sleep. "It's hard for us to get to our call-ins because we're not allowed to pass by
anyone who's trying to flag us down on the way."
"And a lot of people are doing that?" Vicki said.
"I had three other rides before I got here," the cabby said. "And I even told another guy to wait for
another cab. He wanted to pay me to take him all the way to Wisconsin."
"Wow!"
"You're telling me! I don't think he could have afforded it anyway, but I don't have to take somebody
that far when I've got call-in. You kids aren't really going to O'Hare, are you? You know there's nothing
flying out of there---"
"I'm just going to try to get my car out of there," Judd said.
"That's gonna be no picnic either, son," the cabby said.
"I know. But I have to try. I've got nothing else to do."
Vicki was amazed to see so many fires as the cab snaked its way through the remains of car wrecks,
traffic gridlocks, even fights. It was clear there would never be enough local police to go around.So this
is what it's like at the end of the world, she thought.
Where were all these people going? All Vicki had noticed near the church were sirens in the distance
and the glow of distant fires on the horizon. Now she could see that those fires were not so distant. Why
is everything burning?" she asked.
"You don't know?" the cabby said. "Nobody knows yet how many people disap-peared late last night,
but any of them who had anything on the stove just left it there. You leave something on the stove
overnight, eventually the food burns up, the water turns to steam, the pan gets hotter than blazes, and
before you know it your kitchen's on fire. With nobody there to fight it or report it, boom, there goes
your house."
Vicki saw looks of jealousy on the faces of people waving at the cab from street corners, disappointed
to see that it was already hired. What a mess. Were all these people just try-ing to find somewhere,
anywhere, that wasn't turning to rubble?
As the night grew dark and the cab slowly picked its way through side streets and back roads toward
Interstate 294, Vicki noticed that Judd had seemed to lose interest in talk-ing. He sat with his chin resting
in his hands. He had turned away from her and appeared to stare out the window as they slowly rode
along. When would it sink in? she wondered. When would she feel her own fatigue and exhaustion and
finally be able to sleep? And how would all this feel when she finally woke up and realized it was not a
dream, not a nightmare, but reality? How do you go from being part of a family to becoming an orphan
overnight? She sighed. She hadn't even liked being in her family. She didn't like it when her parents were
loud drunks, and she liked it even less when they became Christians.
Now she realized, of course, that for at least the last two years--- since her parents had become
believers--- she herself had been the problem. She had somehow realized that her life would not be her
own if she became a Christian like her parents. They had told her and told her that she didn't need to
clean up her life before she came to Christ. "Jesus accepts you just the way you are," her mother had told
her. "He'll start showing you what needs to be changed and will help you change."
The problem was, Vicki knew her mother was right. She simply didn't want to change, whether she
herself was making the changes or God was. She had liked her life just the way it was because it was just
that--- her life. Why had it taken this, something so huge, so cosmic, so disastrous to show her how fool-
ish she had been? She had been such a rebel, so mean to her parents and even to her sweet little sister,
Jeanni.
And what was with this dolt sitting next to her? Judd Thompson seemed like a nice enough guy, having
made the same huge life-and-death mistakes she had made. But had he even once asked her about
herself or her family? Sure, she had told her story in the little meeting at New Hope, just like he had. But
how was it that she knew to ask for more details, even if just to be polite, and he didn't? Wasn't that just
like a rich kid to not care about anybody else? She had a bad feeling that she wasn't going to like this guy
very much, despite what they were going through together. Well, she concluded, at least he had asked
her to go with him on his errand. That was better than being alone just now.
Of course, she decided, that was the real reason he had invited her anyway. He didn't want to be alone
any more than she did. Vicki was finally doing a little something for somebody other than herself. She
could serve that purpose. She could keep this poor rich kid from being alone during the worst night of his
life.
The tollway to O'Hare was stop-and-go when it was moving at all. Vicki simply didn't understand where
all these people were going. But then, she and Judd were going some-where, so why couldn't everyone
else?
The cabby had fallen silent long ago. He kept taking huge swigs from a mug of coffee and opened his
window so the cool night air filled the car. Vicki shivered and wished he would shut it, but didn't say
anything. The way he looked, he had probably been driving for twenty-four hours. She was not about to
discourage anything that would keep him awake.
Within a couple of miles of the airport, the traffic stopped dead. With Judd seemingly still more
interested in staring out the window than talking to her and the cab driver appearing to concentrate on
simply staying awake, Vicki was alone with her thoughts. It was, she knew, time to talk to God. It would
be the first time she had done that in as long as she could remember.
As Vicki rested her face in her hands, she felt movement next to her. She peeked at Judd, who was still
turned away from her. His shoulders heaved, and she knew he was sobbing, though he was somehow
able to muffle the sounds.
Vicki was suddenly overcome with an emotion she hadn't felt in years. She felt des-perately,
overwhelmingly sorry for this boy. Maybe he was a rich kid, maybe he was insensitive, maybe he was so
selfish he couldn't even be polite. But he was suffering the way she was suffering. She knew exactly how
he felt.
Almost without thinking, Vicki put her hand gently on his shoulder. Judd lowered his head to his hands
and sobbed aloud. Vicki saw the cab driver's sympathetic glance through the rearview mirror. Judd
whispered hoarsely, "I was so stupid. So stupid." Judd moved slightly, and Vicki worried that he might
be embarrassed. She pulled her hand away and retreated to her own thoughts.
Fighting a sob in her own throat, she prayed silently. "God," she said, "I don't even know how to talk to
you, let alone what to say. Bruce Barnes said you loved us and cared about us and didn't want to leave
us behind. I hope that's true because I want to believe in you. I'm sorry for having been such a bad
person, and I'm sorry that it took something like this to make me come to you. I wish I could say I would
have done this eventually anyway, but I can't. I had enough chances, but I didn't want to give you my life.
If you can forgive me for that and still accept me, you can have whatever is left of my life. For a long time
I hoped you weren't real and that I wouldn't have to answer to you someday, but I always knew down
deep you were there. And if nothing else convinced me, this mess sure has. I know it can't be as good to
believe now when I have no choice, but if you'll accept me, I will live for you for as long as you let me
stay alive."
Vicki and Judd sat in silence for almost another two hours while the cab slowly inched its way toward
the international air-port. Suddenly the cabby pulled off the road and sat on the shoulder, shifting into
park. He turned to Judd. "I'm sorry, son, but you can see if I take that exit ramp to O'Hare right there,
we might not get out of there for days. You're still a couple of miles from the parking garage, but I think
this is as close as I can get you."
Vicki could see he was right. Nothing was moving on that ramp. Judd looked at her, and they both
shrugged. Judd paid the driver and thanked him.
Suddenly Vicki found herself alone with a strange boy on a chilly night, on foot in a world that had come
apart at the seams.
It was while walking with Judd that fatigue overcame Vicki. She didn't want to say so, but she wondered
with each step if she could take another. This had been one long, gruel-ing, horrifying day. Now, she
thought, maybe she could finally rest in her own bed. The memories and her loss would still haunt her, but
she believed God would allow her to sleep. She knew she didn't deserve to have him in her life, but she
could do nothing less now than to trust him and believe in him and depend upon him.
Finally, walking in the grass next to the shoulder of the road, which was filled with cars barely moving,
Judd broke his long silence. "Vicki, I've been thinking and pray-ing."
"Me too," she said.
摘要：

Book02SecondChance LEFTBEHIND>THEKIDS< JerryB.Jenkins______________ TimLaHaye  TyndaleHousePublishers,Inc.Wheaton,Illinois   _________________________   ToJimPearl  _________________________   _________________________   CHAPTERONE NewHope  JUDDThompsonJr.hadalwayssizedupsitua­tionsquickly.Itwasclea...

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