Chapter 3

The truck rocks slightly but just enough to pull apart our moist lips. Before we know what's hit us the cold late fall wind comes rushing in, around the newly found space around our chests. I look at Sara's perfect face. Her face, its so amazing the way her lovely rounded nose rolls gently to her puffy cheeks that almost always are blood red from deep blushes.

I allow my face to glance away from Sara to look out into the great painting the sky is showing us. The truck careens across a long, yet very quick bend in the road following closely next to a sharp drop off of easily a hundred feet or more. Through the pollution of the immeasurable amounts of swaying heads, struggling to stay awake; I see a painting.

The painting shows thousands of trees glowing peacefully in the faint rays of light, hoping across the horizon. Its one of the most peaceful things I've ever seen; the peace doesn't last. My eyes again scan the surreal painting, finding something rather peculiar. Where I would have expected to find the city of Lynchburg I spot something else, something that not only explains the cries of despair but why the military has taken us.

Where I expect to see the city of Lynchburg I find a fiery mass flickering Vegas orange, leaving the surrounding area illuminated a humble red, I swear I can almost see the stick figures waving out there apartment windows for some kind of help; none will come.

I'm quick to turn back towards Sara so she won't see the dreadful sight I've seen. Fortunately she just stares innocently into my eyes. It's a pointless worry for me though, even if Sara doesn't notice the horrific sight now she will undoubtedly find out soon and she will just have to accept the sight as I did, even with the chilling sensation it brings.

"Hey Adam you remember that song, God of this City, right?" Dan asks silently over my right shoulder, I hadn't even noticed he was whom I was sitting next to.

"Yeah, that's one of my favorites," I tell him. "Why?" However before he even has a chance to hear my question, he's singing.

"You're the God of this city, You're the king of these people, you're the lord of this nation, you are," He glances at me and I can barely hold back my smiles.

"You're the light in this Darkness," I sing prompting the next verse. "You're the hope to the hopeless, you're the peace to the restless," We sing

"You are," Sara sings turning towards me, finishing out the verse.

"There is no one like our God," The three of us sing but now we've captured the attention of the entire child filled truck bed.

"There is no one like our God," We repeat with a few other voices joining in.

"For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city," We all sing, with our breath hanging over our last words but in no time at all, little Cody Begins singing the first verse again.

"You're the God of this city…"

By the time we finish going through the song again there's not a single one of us who isn't screaming at the top of our lungs not even caring if our song sounds good at all. All we feel is the hope in our hearts.

I'll remember that night. I don't think anyone could ever for get it-for more reasons than one. It was the night that I realized that I will never again see my parents or my little sister. Never, not even if I tried with all of my heart and prayed to God day and night would we look into each others eyes one final time.

My blood froze as I remembered the other reasons I will never for get that night.

Brian, the man… no he's no man, he's the lowest of the low. The heart-crushing terrorist, the vial, menacing rat that doesn't even deserve the forgiveness of God!

I watched him, leaving me a clear as daylight memory of what he did to Tara.

The way he raised his gun at her and shot three times, while holding me down in a tight headlock, why did he choose me to put in a headlock?

Personally I'm happy I was away from were the gun was pointing but why did he waste his time grabbing me first? I have been known to do some rather irrational things in my life. Jumping in front of a vastly speeding car, near my house to tell it to slow down, when I was only 8 years old is a great example; heck Brian was a witness of that wonder.

The entire truckloads of kids, not counting me are all lying limp with sleep. I look at Sara leaning on my right shoulder. She's stone cold, passed-out but even through her dreary sleep she looks freezing. Anyone would be with the temperature at about freezing point and then with this van speeding down I-81, headed north at what I'm guessing to be about seventy-five miles per hour. Which just adds to the reason Sara looks like a cherry popsicle.

Usually her cute rosy cheeks carry a warm ember in them. Frozen red, dry, and blistering are all I can say about her dieing cheeks now. I wiggle my hand free from in between her arms and the little baby there holding. I place it over her right cheek, which is taking the most wind. I hold her close like her life counted on it about but before long my hand can't stand it anymore. I'm not sure what to do; I'm not sure what I can do.

"You really love her don't you?" The boy sitting across from me says. I don't know who he is but listening to him u can hear wisdom and experience in his voice.

"Um yeah, I guess," I tell him feeling shyness pressing at my voice.

"Um?" He questioned. "I guess? Do u tell her you love her?"

"Of Course,"

"Then why did you use the words, um and I guess to me?" He pressed on me.

"Because… because I don't know you. Who are you?" My idea of him being an experienced guy quickly vanishes in my mind.

"My names Gabriel, but knowing me shouldn't matter you should happily declare love to anyone you truly love just as you declare your love for God," Gabriel shouts at me obviously disappointed in me, but why?

"Ok…Gabriel, I love Sara," I scream to the rural countryside flying by us. "So where are you from?" I ask assuming he was at the retreat when they took him just like they had with me.

"Adam, you know me," I do? I ask myself astounded by his remark. Oh my god I haven't even told him my name yet! "You've read about me many times before, Adam Voice." I have? He knows my full name too?