“Is he gone?” Judas asked, arms still shaking.
“He’s going after Jesus!” Tom said, as he headed into the street, “C’mon!”
Tom began running toward the beach and turned back toward Judas, “If we’re going to be there for you Judas, you need to be there for us! Let’s go!”
Judas shook with confusion. He was paralyzed with fear, but Tom was right. Perhaps they could beat the man to the beach and simply warn Jesus of the impending danger. They would have to move fast, but after a lifetime of running from his fears, Judas knew he was fast. Judas leapt from his hiding place and tore off down the street after Tom. They were going to save Jesus!
David hadn’t had many opportunities to speak with Jesus alone since their adventure began. So he was thankful when Jesus asked him to take a walk, while the disciples handled the crowd that had gathered on the beach. During their walk, Jesus spoke to David of things to come, things already gone by and the weather. Jesus never gave any indication that he knew David was from the future. And it seemed as though Jesus was more comfortable with David then he was with the twelve disciples. They understood each other. David imagined it must be a relief for Jesus to have someone who understood, like two quantum physicists in the middle of the desert…like with David and Tom.
The walk was almost over and David could see the crowd, now much larger, gathered in front of the disciples. There must be three thousand people, David thought. “Looks like another long day,” Jesus said.
“Indeed,” David replied, but then smiled. Another long day? In all his life, David never thought that Jesus got worn out, tired of people or stressed by life. But David was beginning to see things differently. Jesus was not only human, he was as human as David, Tom or anyone else, and all this activity, all these people, wore him out.
David scanned the beach and glanced at his watch. Not only did the watch reveal the time, but also Tom’s general location. He wasn’t far, but still deep in the city. Then again, it looked as though Tom was heading back, and quickly.
Tom was late, but then, so was David. It wasn’t that David didn’t trust Tom alone in the city. They had both blended into the society and could manage fine on their own. But he didn’t want Tom and Judas having an influence on one another. David was relatively sure how things would turn out, but there were so many unknowns about this past that were not recorded in the Bible. He wondered if his and Tom’s friendship would survive the years of living the very subject that divided them most strongly. Over the past few months, David had sensed Tom drifting away, becoming obsessed with debunking Jesus, but now, now Tom was becoming friends with Judas… What good could come of that?
“Jesus!” Judas yelled from a street running parallel to the beach, “Take cover! A possessed man wielding a sword is coming for you!”
Jesus and David quickly hurried to Judas.
“From where does this man come?” Jesus asked.
Judas was out of breath, but managed to point to a street, which led up a hill.
“Where’s Tom?” David asked, suddenly concerned.
“He’s coming…I…passed him on the way…he’s a slow…runner,” said Judas.
A howl from the top of the hill pulled their attention away from Judas. Samuel was at the crest, wielding his sword high in the air.
David had never seen this man before, but the location and circumstances filled David’s memory, “Legion…”
Jesus shot David a look. He had heard. He heard David say the name before it was known. David slunk back and pursed his lips tight as the disciples arrived with the crowd in tow, hoping his foreknowledge would be forgotten.
Samuel screeched and lunged down the hill toward the beach, toward Jesus. Many in the crowd turned and fled; the rest, including the disciples and David, simply backed away. “Stand behind me and do not fear this man,” Jesus said, standing his ground.
Samuel was like a freight train with a sword. He seemed immeasurably dense, like he could crash through a cement wall. And still, Jesus held his ground. Samuel was only ten feet from Jesus when, “Jesus! Look out!”
Whump!
Tom tackled Samuel from the side, sending both men to the ground. The crowd collectively gasped. The sword fell from Samuel’s hand, but he was not deterred from his goal. Samuel got to his feet and pounded toward Jesus. Tom was on his feet too, and preparing to make a second attempt.
“Tom, don’t!” David shouted, but it was too late.
Tom dove onto Samuel’s back and hung on like a baby monkey clinging to its mother. Samuel growled and thrashed about wildly. Tom had wrestled during his high school years and for a short time had considered trying out for the Israeli Olympic team. He knew the headlock he had wrapped around Samuel’s throat was unbreakable and should put the man in a deep sleep within a minute. If only Tom could hold on.
Samuel ran backwards and slammed into the wall of a fishery. Tom grunted in pain as his backside indented the wall. Tom gritted his teeth and squeezed tighter still. He was not going to let this man go.
Samuel swung his body from side to side, flailing Tom’s legs in the air. It had been a full minute since Tom locked his arms around Samuel, and he had increased the pressure with every resistance Samuel offered up. But the man wasn’t slowing down, and Tom’s arms were growing sore. Tom tightened his grip with all his reserves, hoping it would do the man in-finally.
And it seemed to be working. Samuel staggered slowly and then stopped moving altogether. Tom never loosened his grip. But then Tom felt a hand on his wrist and then a crushing force. He grunted in pain and looked forward. Samuel was slowly, methodically pulling Tom’s arm away, like he had all the time in the world and no use for oxygen. Within seconds, Tom’s arms were pulled away from Samuel’s neck.
Samuel snapped his head toward Tom and took him by the robe. “We will remember you,” Samuel said, as his penetrating eyes burned into Tom’s memory.
Seconds later, Tom was airborne, as Samuel tossed him like a football. Tom sailed over the crowd and splashed down in the water. Jesus watched Tom land and then turned his head back to Samuel the fisherman, staring him straight in the eyes. Samuel froze in his tracks, his fingers only inches from Jesus’s neck.
“Come out of him,” said Jesus in a calm voice.
Samuel began to twitch from head to toe as though a thousand needles were pricking him. He fell to his knees and was no longer a powerful beast. He was instantly reduced to a pitiful horde of personalities. “What do you want with us, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please! Do not torture us!”
“What is your name?” Jesus asked, as though talking to an insignificant and inferior creature.
“We are Legion. Please do not send us into the abyss! Mercy! Yes, Mercy! Have mercy on us as you did during the rebellion! MERCY, mercy! There! Send us into them!” Samuel shouted, as he pointed to the heard of pigs foraging on the nearby hillside.
“The swine! Yes! YES! Send us into them! Mercy! MERCY!”
“Go,” Jesus said.
Samuel’s head arched toward the sky and his mouth gaped open as the sound of fifty wailing voices escaped his lungs. As soon as the last voice was silenced, Samuel fell and was caught by Jesus.
Tom pulled himself to his feet by clinging to the side of the boat. He had heard the screaming voices asking Jesus to have mercy, but couldn’t understand what was happening or how that man had thrown him so far. He was sure his ribs were bruised and his head pounded harder than ever. It had been years since Tom had run that fast, that far, and then into a fight. He was getting old.
The wall of people blocking Tom’s view had fallen silent, so he assumed that whatever happened was over and his assistance wasn’t needed. Not that he’d be any help. But what was that? A noise in the distance growing louder…like people screaming…but worse.
The crowd of people standing in front of Tom began to scatter in either direction. What now? Tom remained in the water, six feet from the shore, assuming that whatever was going to happen next, he’d be safe there. No one in this time period could manage more than a frantic dogpaddle, anyway.
As the last of the crowd blocking his view moved, Tom saw something he only thought could happen in
