"Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins - Left Behind Series 3 - Nicolae" - читать интересную книгу автора (LaHaye Tim)

NICOLAE:
The Rise of the Antichrist
Book 3 of the Left Behind Series

TIM LAHAYE & JERRY B. JENKINS




CHAPTER ONE
It was the worst of times; it was the worst of times.
Rayford Steele's knees ached as he sat behind the wheel of the rented Lincoln. He
had dropped to the pavement at the crushing realization of his pastor's death. The
physical pain, though it would stay with him for days, would prove minor compared
to the mental anguish of having yet again lost one of the dearest people in his life.
Rayford felt Amanda's eyes on him. She laid one comforting hand on his thigh. In
the backseat his daughter, Chloe, and her husband, Buck, each had a hand on his
shoulder.
What now? Rayford wondered, What do we do without Bruce? Where do we go?
The Emergency Broadcast System station droned on with the news of chaos,
devastation, terror, and destruction throughout the world. Unable to speak over the
lump in his throat, Rayford busied himself maneuvering his way through the
incongruous traffic jams. Why were people out? What did they expect to see?
Weren't they afraid of more bombs, or fallout?
“I need to get to the Chicago bureau office,” Buck said.
“You can use the car after we get to the church,” Rayford managed. “I need to get
the word out about Bruce.”
Global Community peacekeeping forces supervised local police and emergency
relief personnel directing traffic and trying to get people to return to their homes.
Rayford relied on his many years in the Chicago area to use back roads and side
streets to get around the major thoroughfares, which were hopelessly clogged.
Rayford wondered if he should have taken Buck up on his offer to drive. But
Rayford had not wanted to appear weak. He shook his head. There's no limit to the
pilot's ego! He felt as if he could curl into a ball and cry himself to sleep.
Nearly two years since the vanishing of his wife and son, along with millions of
others, Rayford no longer harbored illusions about his life in the twilight of history.
He had been devastated. He lived with deep pain and regret. This was so hard....
Rayford knew his life could be even worse. Suppose he had not become a believer
in Christ and was still lost forever. Suppose he had not found a new love and was
alone. Suppose Chloe had also vanished. Or he had never met Buck. There was
much to be grateful for. Were it not for the physical touch of the other three in that
car, Rayford wondered if he would have had the will to go on.
He could hardly imagine not having come to know and love Bruce Barnes. He had
learned more and been enlightened and inspired more by Bruce than anyone else
he'd ever met. And it wasn't just Bruce's knowledge and teaching that made the
difference. It was his passion. Here was a man who immediately and clearly saw
that he had missed the greatest truth ever communicated to mankind, and he was not
about to repeat the mistake.
“Daddy, those two guards by the overpass seem to be waving at you,” Chloe said.
“I'm trying to ignore them,” Rayford said. “All these nobodies-trying-to-be-