The group remained cowed and quiet.
“Because,” Susan said, her voice, breaking, “because I plan to be with my mom again. In heaven. We’re going to finish watching that movie, finish eating that bag of popcorn, and I’m going to tell her I love her again. I will.”
Juan shook his head. “Susan—” he shrugged—“that whole Rapture thing. How can something that big only be known by part of the world? Are you going to tell me something as big as that isn’t going to be in every major religion?”
“Juan, do you know the biggest thing wrong with you?” Susan wiped the tears from her face. “You always have to be right. You always have to think you’ve got all the answers wired. You always have to be the guy in the know.” She took a ragged breath. “Well, you aren’t. If you did, you’d know that what Mrs. Gander is trying to tell you about is the truth. The Rapture did happen. The world will come to an end in seven years. A lot of people are going to die between now and then.”
“The electromagnetic theory—”
“The electromagnetic theory,” Susan shouted, “means that all of those people are gone, Juan! Forever gone. Is that what you want to believe about your little sister? Do you want to believe that you will never see Luisa again?”
“Maybe there’s a way to reverse it,” Juan said. Pain racked his face and Megan knew he was hurting. “Maybe whoever figures this thing out can bring the people back by dialing in their electromagnetic signatures or something.”
“Juan, this isn’t Star Trek. Engineering isn’t going to give you the latest bit of technobabble fluff and a device to save the day. Mrs. Gander is trying to help you to understand what happened. More than that, she’s trying to give you enough information so you can take responsibility for your own life and save yourself.” Susan took a deep breath. “Weren’t you listening? This is the end of the world. Nobody gets out alive.”
Megan held her breath. For a moment no one moved.
“You know what?” Juan said finally. “This is crazy. I’m not going to be part of this. The last thing I want to do is step away from the things I know.”
“You already did that,” Susan said. “That night when everyone disappeared.”
“No,” Juan said. “My world’s still here. Just changed a little. I’m going to be all right. But I’m not getting into this weirdness. Somebody’ll figure out what we’re supposed to do. And I guarantee you it’ll be more along the lines of how to take care of the world we got left than it will be to try to get to the next world.” He lifted a hand and waved. “Check you later. I’m outta here.” He turned and walked out the door.
Slowly, other teens joined Juan, following him down the hallway. Megan’s heart turned cold with pain as each one left the room.
But Susan’s words had reached some of them. When the exodus ended, twelve teens remained.
Megan looked at them. Twelve leaders for the twelve books she was able to purchase. And Jesus had twelve apostles. There were twelve tribes.
Shawn Henderson, Kyle Lonigan, and Geri Krauser stood beside Susan January. The other eight were just as strong.
“Okay,” Megan said, feeling the tightness in her voice. “If you’re ready to begin a deeper study of what lies ahead of us, let’s get started.” She was surprised at how much her legs trembled. “Before we do, I have to admit that this is new to me. I was raised in the church and taught about the Rapture, but I didn’t know anything was going to be expected of me. I really didn’t think I was going to have to deal with anything like this.”
“That’s okay, Mrs. G,” Shawn said, walking forward and taking a seat at the front of the class. “I bet if we all work on it together we’ll come up with something.”
Megan nodded. “You’re right. That’s why I picked the group that was here this morning.”
The other teens all chose seats near the front of the class.
“Don’t you think that’s weird?” Geri asked, flipping through her book and looking around. “We started out with twenty-nine people and ended up with just enough to each get a book.”
“No,” Megan said. “Somehow it just seems right. Maybe the matching numbers is a sign that we’re doing the right thing. That we’re not supposed to set our expectations too high.”
Shawn leafed through the book. “Judging from the response this morning, getting people to believe what’s going on is going to be nearly impossible.”
“That’s all right,” Megan said. “Every journey begins with a single step. We’ll start here today, and every day we’ll try to build.”
“So where do we start?” Kyle asked. “Looks like a lot of material here.”
“With a prayer,” Susan said. “We ask God to bless our efforts, and we ask for His guidance as we try to understand what He’s given us.” She took a deep breath. “That’s where we begin.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Megan said. “Who would like to lead us in prayer?”
“I will,” Kyle Lonigan said. He looked surprised to find that he had spoken. “I pray a lot in football for the team. Make sure nobody gets hurt. That kind of thing.” He hesitated. “I think that’s what we’re looking for here.”
“Thank you, Kyle,” Megan said.
“Okay,” Kyle said, glancing around self-consciously. “A little nervous now. I usually do my praying by myself when nobody’s looking. Let’s stand and join hands.”
Quietly, the group did as he suggested. They formed a circle at the front of the room, heads bowed, and hands clasped.
“God,” Kyle said in a soft voice, “we come to You today to ask your blessing for this undertaking. Help us to see and learn what You would have us see and learn.” He paused. “And help us stay strong, God, because it looks like the way is going
