Read Online The Vanishings by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins
Ads: Link
want to be awake for this.”
The drunk said, “If we’re not crashin’, don’t bother me.”
In spite of their terror, passengers seemed to settle down for the long flight back to Chicago. Judd refused all offers of food and beverage, unable to think of anything but what he might find at home.
As the heavy plane retraced its route across the Atlantic, it retreated from the rising sun. The pilot announced that they were going all the way back to Chicago because most other airports were jammed and closed. He also said to expect chaos on the ground because these disappearances had happened everywhere around the world at the same time.
Judd saw Hattie and Buck talking. She toldhim that even more bizarre than the vanishings was the fact that every single little child on the plane had disappeared. Many adults and some teenagers, but all the babies. That awakened the sleeping man on the aisle. “What in blazes are you two talking about?” he said.
“We’re about to land in Chicago,” Hattie said. “I’ve got to run.”
“Chicago?” the man demanded.
“You don’t want to know,” Buck said.
Judd looked out the window as the plane cut through the clouds and offered a view of the Chicago area. Smoke. Fire. Cars off the road and smashed into each other and trees and guardrails. Planes in pieces on the ground. Emergency vehicles, lights flashing, picking their way around the debris.
As the airport came into view, it was obvious no one was going anywhere soon. There were planes as far as the eye could see, some crashed, some burning, the others gridlocked in line. People trudged through the grass toward the terminals. Cranes and wreckers tried to clear a path through the front of the terminal so traffic could move, but that would take hours, if not days.
The pilot announced that he would have to land the plane two miles from the terminal and that passengers would have to slidedown inflatable emergency chutes to get to the ground. All Judd cared about was getting on the ground. He would run all the way to the terminal, where he could call home. He would ask someone how he could get home, and he was willing to pay any amount. He had that credit card and wads of cash in his pocket.
Half an hour later, when Judd came huffing and puffing past the crowds and into bigger crowds in the terminal, he saw lines a hundred long waiting for the phones. On TVs throughout the terminal he watched news stories from around the world of people disappearing right out of their clothes in front of the camera. A nurse vanished as a woman was about to give birth, and the baby disappeared before it was born. A groom disappeared as he was putting his bride’s ring on her finger. Pallbearers at a funeral disappeared while carrying a casket, which fell and popped open, revealing that the corpse had vanished too.
Judd raced outside and through the jammed cars, following lines of people to cabs and limousines. He sprinted to the front and stuffed a huge roll of bills into the driver’s hand. Judd told him his address, and the man pulled away.
It took two hours to pick their way through the results of crashes and fires. The limo driver said, “Some people disappeared with stuff cooking on the stove, and there was no one there to turn it off. That’s why you see so many homes burned or burning.”
When they finally reached Judd’s street in Mount Prospect, the driver stopped and said, “There you go, son. Sure hope you find what you’re expecting.”
“I hope I don’t,” Judd said.
SEVEN
Vickiâs Sad Awakening
D AWN came way too soon for Vicki Byrne. The morning sun poured through the slatted window at the back of the house trailer where she shared a tiny bedroom with her little sister.
Vicki lay on her stomach and felt as if she hadnât moved since shortly after she had collapsed into bed. The buzz from the marijuana was long gone, but she still tasted the stale tobacco from the cigarettes and was hung over from several
The drunk said, “If we’re not crashin’, don’t bother me.”
In spite of their terror, passengers seemed to settle down for the long flight back to Chicago. Judd refused all offers of food and beverage, unable to think of anything but what he might find at home.
As the heavy plane retraced its route across the Atlantic, it retreated from the rising sun. The pilot announced that they were going all the way back to Chicago because most other airports were jammed and closed. He also said to expect chaos on the ground because these disappearances had happened everywhere around the world at the same time.
Judd saw Hattie and Buck talking. She toldhim that even more bizarre than the vanishings was the fact that every single little child on the plane had disappeared. Many adults and some teenagers, but all the babies. That awakened the sleeping man on the aisle. “What in blazes are you two talking about?” he said.
“We’re about to land in Chicago,” Hattie said. “I’ve got to run.”
“Chicago?” the man demanded.
“You don’t want to know,” Buck said.
Judd looked out the window as the plane cut through the clouds and offered a view of the Chicago area. Smoke. Fire. Cars off the road and smashed into each other and trees and guardrails. Planes in pieces on the ground. Emergency vehicles, lights flashing, picking their way around the debris.
As the airport came into view, it was obvious no one was going anywhere soon. There were planes as far as the eye could see, some crashed, some burning, the others gridlocked in line. People trudged through the grass toward the terminals. Cranes and wreckers tried to clear a path through the front of the terminal so traffic could move, but that would take hours, if not days.
The pilot announced that he would have to land the plane two miles from the terminal and that passengers would have to slidedown inflatable emergency chutes to get to the ground. All Judd cared about was getting on the ground. He would run all the way to the terminal, where he could call home. He would ask someone how he could get home, and he was willing to pay any amount. He had that credit card and wads of cash in his pocket.
Half an hour later, when Judd came huffing and puffing past the crowds and into bigger crowds in the terminal, he saw lines a hundred long waiting for the phones. On TVs throughout the terminal he watched news stories from around the world of people disappearing right out of their clothes in front of the camera. A nurse vanished as a woman was about to give birth, and the baby disappeared before it was born. A groom disappeared as he was putting his bride’s ring on her finger. Pallbearers at a funeral disappeared while carrying a casket, which fell and popped open, revealing that the corpse had vanished too.
Judd raced outside and through the jammed cars, following lines of people to cabs and limousines. He sprinted to the front and stuffed a huge roll of bills into the driver’s hand. Judd told him his address, and the man pulled away.
It took two hours to pick their way through the results of crashes and fires. The limo driver said, “Some people disappeared with stuff cooking on the stove, and there was no one there to turn it off. That’s why you see so many homes burned or burning.”
When they finally reached Judd’s street in Mount Prospect, the driver stopped and said, “There you go, son. Sure hope you find what you’re expecting.”
“I hope I don’t,” Judd said.
SEVEN
Vickiâs Sad Awakening
D AWN came way too soon for Vicki Byrne. The morning sun poured through the slatted window at the back of the house trailer where she shared a tiny bedroom with her little sister.
Vicki lay on her stomach and felt as if she hadnât moved since shortly after she had collapsed into bed. The buzz from the marijuana was long gone, but she still tasted the stale tobacco from the cigarettes and was hung over from several
Similar Books
