"There were planes and then kaboom!"

"Planes? This was some kind of an attack?"

"An attack. That's exactly what it was."

"And where are you?"

"Near the old racecourse offEuclid," she said.

"They're still comin' in and droppin' their bombs." "Don't you know the target?"

"No, but it was south of me. I can see the smoke from my front window."

Judd saw the same mushroom cloud and then the fire. Traffic stopped. He parked and took off on foot.

He called Lionel again. Still no sign of Ryan.

Judd called the hospital but couldn't get through. He could smell the acrid smoke and feel the heat. Fire trucks and ambulances sat in the middle of the street. He dialed Vicki at home. No answer.

Running, he saw a boy on a bicycle.

"Any other kids come by here?" Judd yelled.

"No," the kid said.

"And stay away from the hospital. It's like a war zone."

"They're taking the wounded there?"

"It was. .h.i.t!" the kid said. He rode away, pale and clearly terrified.

Judd's head spun, and the smoke made it difficult to breathe. He cut through a parking lot, then past a gra.s.sy area. Judd's heart sank as he came over the rise and saw the hospital. Part of the full height of the structure was still intact, but much of it was rubble. A few white-uniformed workers scurried about.

He heard a plane directly overhead and looked up in time to see it deliver its payload. The bomb wobbled in the air, then straightened out. The plane veered off with a deafening roar as Judd hit the ground and covered his head.

The earth shook with the force of the explosion. No more planes.

Only sirens and 1 the crackling fire and the sobs.

And the sobs were his own.

As the smoke cleared Judd ran full tilt toward the hospital.

Police and firemen were just arriving. Bodies lay scattered.

He heard the faint cry of a newborn in the rubble, and four officers began lifting concrete.

Judd couldn't believe anyone could have survived. Part of the structure looked normal, but the other half looked like a mashed toy. Girders protruded. Water sprayed from broken pipes. Hospital equipment lay charred and twisted on the ground.

Bruce was in there somewhere. Judd had to find him. As more emergency personnel arrived, Judd acted like he was supposed to be there. He kept his head down and walked toward what used to be the Intensive Care unit. Vicki and Chaya were just pulling away when the first plane struck.

They ran through the parking lot and into backyards.

As planes roared overhead, Vicki and Chaya jumped fences and ran around swimming pools.

Just when they thought they were far enough away, a terrific blast shook the earth. Streetlights shattered, and houses exploded a block away. With fire and falling debris around them, they kept going, dodging cars that had run off the road. People screamed in terror as the planes kept coming.

Vicki and Chaya sprinted ten minutes until a woman called out to them from her house. She took the girls to her bas.e.m.e.nt, where they listened to the thunder overhead.

"Who would attack us?" the woman said. She turned on the television.

The Cable News Network Global Community Network correspondent was broadcasting live just outside Washington, D. C.

"The fate of Global Community Potentate Nicolae Carpathia remains in question at this hour as Washingtonlies in ruins. The ma.s.sive a.s.sault was launched by East Coast militia, with the aid of the United States of Britain and the former sovereign state ofEgypt, not part of the Middle Eastern Commonwealth."

Chaya shook her head. The once beautiful view ofWashington,D.C.was now a disaster area.

"Potentate Carpathia arrived here last night and was thought to be staying in the presidential suite of the Capital Noir, but eyewitnesses say that the luxury hotel was leveled this morning.

"Global Community peacekeeping forces immediately retaliated and have attacked a former Nike base in suburbanChicago."

"What's a Nike base?" Vicki said.

"That old building near the hospital," the woman said.

"Nike is a type of missile. They had training fields over there, barracks, lots of jeeps. But it's been closed for years. People say the militia was using it."

The report switched toChicago. A man at a news desk stammered through the information.

"Uh, we have reports of civilian casualties in the surrounding suburbs, and uh, a colossal traffic tie-up is hampering rescue efforts. Please, if you are anywhere near the suburbs ofArlington Heights,Prospect Heights,Mount Prospect, orRolling Meadows, take caution. Find a safe place for you and your family.

"Here's what we know right now about the strike on the Nike base. We are told that Global Community intelligence has uncovered a plot to destroy Potentate Carpathia's plane at O'Hare.

"Mr. Steele" Vicki said.

"The attack on the Nike base was effected without nuclear weapons," the man continued. "Again, without the use of nuclear weapons. A statement from Global Community command says there is no danger of radiation fallout in theChicagoarea."

The station switched to a network reporter.

"Egyptian ground forces moving toward Iraq have been wiped out by Global Community air forces, thwarting an obvious siege upon New Babylon. Global Community forces are now advancing onEngland.

Ah, please stand by.... Potentate Carpathia is safe! He will address the nation in a few moments."

Judd's cell phone rang.

"Judd, it's John." He sounded awful.

"I think Mark was at the Nike base."

"Oh, no!" Judd said.

"The hospital was. .h.i.t, too."

"I'm a few blocks away," John said.

"I'll meet you there."

To Vicki, Nicolae Carpathia sounded calm, as if commenting on a golf tournament rather than World War III.

"Loyal citizens of the Global Community," Carpathia said, "I come to you today with a broken heart, unable to tell you even from where I speak. For more than a year we have worked to draw this Global Community together under a banner of peace and harmony. Today, unfortunately, we have been reminded again that there are still those among us who would pull us apart.

"It is no secret that I am, always have been, and always will be a pacifist. I do not believe in war. I do not believe in weaponry. I do not believe in bloodshed. On the other hand, I feel responsible for you, my brother or my sister in this global village.

"Global Community peacekeeping forces have already crushed the resistance. The death of innocent civilians weighs heavy on me, but I pledge immediate judgment upon all enemies of peace. The beautiful capital of the United States of North America has been laid waste, and you will hear stories of more destruction and death. Our goal remains peace and reconstruction. I will be back at the secure headquarters in New Babylon in due time and will communicate with you frequently.

"Above all, do not fear. Live in confidence that no threat to global tranquility will be tolerated, and no enemy of peace will survive. "

A correspondent for CNN/CCN recapped Carpathia's statement.

"And this late word: Anti-Global Community militia forces have threatened nuclear war onNew York City, primarilyKennedyInternationalAirport. Civilians are fleeing the area.

"And now this fromLondon," he said, touching his hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry. A one-hundred-megaton bomb has destroyedHeathrowAirport, and radiation fallout is threatening the area for miles."

"It's the end of the world," the woman said to Vicki and Chaya.

Judd avoided eye contact with the growing number of police and emergency workers. He saw several people lifting bodies to a makeshift outdoor morgue.

"We're getting a patient list and an employee record from the office," Judd heard a man say to rescue workers.

"When we get it, we need to reconcile that list with the ID bracelets."

"Any survivors?" another man asked.

"Three women," the man said.

"Two nurses and a doctor. They were outside for a smoke when the bombing started. "

The men scattered. Judd looked at the row of lifeless bodies. He went to the first and slowly lifted the white sheet. A woman. Who was she? Judd wondered.

Next was a young bald man, probably a cancer patient. The third was an elderly man with white hair.

Judd stood over the fourth body and heard the workers returning. He lifted the sheet and gasped.

Vicki and Chaya waited until they were sure the bombing had stopped.

The lady begged them to stay.

"My mother was at the hospital," Chaya said.

"And Vicki's father. We have to go back."

By the time they reached the hospital, police barrier tape had been stretched around the campus. Guards patrolled the area.

Chaya pointed excitedly toward the debris.

"It's Judd," she said.

They both yelled at him and waved as Judd was led from the area by two guards. As he got closer, Vicki could see Judd crying.

He ducked under the police tape and fell to his knees.

"I saw him, Vick'"

"Who?" Vicki said.

"Ryan?" "Bruce. They just brought him out and laid him in the gra.s.s." Judd looked up at Vicki "Bruce is gone. Dead"

Vicki and Chaya burst into tears and embraced Judd. Why would G.o.d take Bruce now? Vicki shook.

The man who had taken her in, who had given so much to teach them the truth of G.o.d's Word, had fallen.

"My mother," Chaya said.

"How will I find out about my mother?"

"They're identifying bodies," Judd said. He suggested they stay while he went to find John at the Nike base. They would try to find Mark. Judd left Vicki his cell phone and asked her to keep in touch with Lionel.

Judd met John near the Nike base. Smoke rose from the building and small explosions still erupted inside. Judd approached an officer.

"What happened?"

"Global Community took out the militia," the officer said.

"Their stash of weapons is blowing up now."

"Any survivors?" John said.

The officer raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"In there? Anybody who survived the bombs would have been vaporized by the heat."

John hung his head.

"Don't give up," Judd said.

"You never know."

They jogged toward Judd's car. Traffic was backed up as far as he could see.