The Left Behind Collection: All 12 Books by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Read Free Book Online

delivery room, who was suddenly barren. Doctors delivered the placenta. Her husband had caught the disappearance of the fetus on his camcorder. As he shot her great belly and sweaty face, he asked how she felt. “How do you think I feel, Earl? Turn that thing off.” What was she hoping for? “That you’ll get close enough for me to slug you.” Did she realize that in a few moments they’d be parents? “In about a minute, you’re going to be divorced.”
    Then came the scream and the dropping of the camera, terrified voices, running nurses, and the doctor. CNN reran the footage in super-slow motion, showing the woman going from very pregnant to nearly flat stomached, as if she had instantaneously delivered. “Now, watch with us again,” the newsman intoned, “and keep your eyes on the left edge of your screen, where a nurse appears to be reading a printout from the fetal heart monitor. There, see?” The action stopped as the pregnant woman’s stomach deflated. “The nurse’s uniform seems to still be standing as if an invisible person is wearing it. She’s gone. Half a second later, watch.” The image moved ahead and stopped. “The uniform, stockings and all, are in a pile atop her shoes.”
    Local television stations from around the world reported bizarre occurrences, especially in time zones where the event had happened during the day or early evening. CNN showed via satellite the video of a groom disappearing while slipping the ring onto his bride’s finger. A funeral home in Australia reported that nearly every mourner disappeared from one memorial service, including the corpse, while at another service at the same time, only a few disappeared and the corpse remained. Morgues also reported corpse disappearances. At a burial, three of six pallbearers stumbled and dropped a casket when the other three disappeared. When they picked up the casket, it too was empty.
    Rayford was second in line for the phone, but what he saw next on the screen convinced him he would never see his wife again. At a Christian high school soccer game at a missionary headquarters in Indonesia, most of the spectators and all but one of the players disappeared in the middle of play, leaving their shoes and uniforms on the ground. The CNN reporter announced that, in his remorse, the surviving player took his own life.
    But it was more than remorse, Rayford knew. Of all people, that player, a student at a Christian school, would have known the truth immediately. The Rapture had taken place. Jesus Christ had returned for his people, and that boy was not one of them. When Rayford sat at the phone, tears streamed down his face. Someone said, “You have four minutes,” and he knew that would be more than he needed. His answering machine at home picked up immediately, and he was pierced to hear the cheerful voice of his wife. “Your call is important to us,” she said. “Please leave a message after the beep.”
    Rayford punched a few buttons to check for messages. He ran through three or four mundane ones, then was startled to hear Chloe’s voice. “Mom? Dad? Are you there? Have you seen what’s going on? Call me as soon as you can. I’ve lost at least ten students and two profs, and all the married students’ kids disappeared. Is Raymie all right? Call me!” Well, at least he knew Chloe was still around. All he wanted was to hold her.
    Rayford redialed and left a message on his own machine. “Irene? Ray? If you’re there, pick up. If you get this message, I’m at O’Hare and trying to get home. It may take a while if I don’t get a copter ride. I sure hope you’re there.”
    “Let’s go, Cap,” someone said. “Everybody’s got a call to make.”
    Rayford nodded and quickly dialed his daughter’s dorm room at Stanford. He got the irritating message that his call could not be completed as dialed.
    Rayford gathered his belongings and checked his mail slot. Besides a pile of the usual junk, he found a padded manila