Universal

Chapter 4

The men loaded up in the truck and headed towards the service station. Pickings were slim when it came to restaurants in a small country town like Bethlehem, but Judson figured even if Troy had the options of all the restaurants in the world, he would still choose the old diner. 

    Troy tried dusting the dirt off of his work pants and used his shirt sleeve to wipe away the sawdust that had mixed with sweat on his cheek. This made Judson laugh. “ Boy, quit.” He said. “You could go in there covered head to toe in cow dung and that girl would still think you looked like her very own William Holden!” He had seen the two together. Overtaken with the purest form of innocent love. It made Judson happy. 

    It had been a week since Troy had seen Patricia. Judson paid him double what he made pumping gas, and assured him as many hours as he wanted. The deal was too good to turn down, even if it meant missing his sweetheart. Judson was happy with the arrangement as well. It meant that he could spend more time with Troy, getting to know him and earning his trust. They had many conversations over those weeks. They had talked about family, about work, and the farm that Troy had been raised on. Most of the conversations revolved around Troy and questions that Judson asked him. For a while that had been enough for Troy.  It seemed like this may have been the first time in his life that someone was truly interested in him, and only him. What he wanted out of life, what he thought about and believed in. But, as nice as it had been to talk about himself, Tory wasn't used it it. He began asking questions of Judson. He wanted to know the type of place that he came from. He asked about his family. As long as anyone could remember, the old farm where Judson lived had been abandoned. Nobody in Bethlehem even knew who owned the land. Troy was becoming eager to have those answers. Judson felt the pressure with every question that Troy sent his way. He had to speed the process along. He couldn't dodge the kids inquiries forever. Heck, he didn't want to! He liked the guy! He wanted to explain himself, and share the mission with him. The secret and the pressure of the mission were becoming proverbial stones on  Judson's back. It was almost too much for him to handle on his own. 

They pulled into the dusty lot of the diner and stepped out of the old truck. The sky was dark, and the grey rain filled clouds had covered the rays from the sun. Thunder boomed as a lightening bolt streaked the sky. The clouds opened up and sent rain, in buckets, towards the ground. The men ran towards the door of the diner, hands holding their hats on their heads. Another bolt of lightning cracked, this time striking the field to the right of the diner. It shook the ground under their feet. Thunder followed immediately, as did another firey bolt of electricity. Troy had just made it to the door, and opened it for his boss. When Judson didn't enter, Troy looked back. Judson was lying on the ground, soaked in a puddle of muddy rain water. The ground around him was black with char. It looked as if veins of black ink had sprouted out of Judson and into the ground around him. He had been struck. 

   Troy yelled into the diner for help before rushing to Judson's side. The lightning was still striking the land around them and the rain continued to fall in drops so big they stung the skin that they hit. Immediately, Troy felt for a pulse on Judson's neck. He couldn't find one. He felt again, this time with panic as he called out Judson's name. "Jud!" He yelled over the sound of the storm around them. "Come on Jud! You gotta wake up!" His words weren't helping, and he still couldn't feel a pulse. Rising to his knees, Troy began to press on Judson's chest. He had seen the local doctor do this to an elderly man who had suffered a heart attack at a church social, and he hoped to God he was doing it correctly. 

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Judson felt the lightning bolt hit him. Like a hot, stinging liquid, it coursed through his body. His eyes went black as he hit the ground. For a second he felt the rain drops continue to hit his body that was now lying in a puddle, then suddenly he didn't. Everything was silent. Everything was dark. Judson was gone.  

A sinister laugh broke Judson from the trance of darkness around him. The laugh grew closer and closer, and with it what looked like a firey halo moved his way. "So dumb." Something beyond the halo said. "So dumb that your master would send a human to do the work that only a God could accomplish." the voice said with another evil laugh. 

Judson was standing now, in the dark room of his own mind. He was trying to see beyond the red and orange ring of light to put a face to the words being spoken to him. 

From the fire stepped a being. Looking human only in basic anatomy, the figure appeared with grey skin that looked like death. His teeth, pointed and black opened and closed over a tongue that was sliced down the middle like a snake's. There was no hair on his head, but his eyes were distraction enough for his baldness. They were yellow, and glowing. The centers were black as a thousand midnights. The being reeked of evil. Judson knew, without asking, that this was in fact , The Evil One. 

Judson tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. He grabbed his throat, and looked back at the creature in front of him. 

"I don't need to hear your words, human!" The Evil Lord said. "You mean nothing to me. And now that you are out of my way, I can go back to terrorizing the nations." With a flick of his wrist Judson was sent flying through the eternal pit of darkness. It was as if he were being sucked by a vacuum to a place far in the distance. As he soared, he felt himself growing farther and farther from Earth, and from the Creator. He had to get back! He had to stop the Evil one! Like a mighty warrior, he struggled against the strong current that pulled him, but nothing worked to break him free. In pain, and defeat Judson called out into the darkness. This time, his voice worked. "Creator!" He screamed. "Forgive me, for I have failed your mission!" 

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With every chest compression, Troy's arms grew more tired. He was a strong young man, with muscles hardened by years of manual labor....but 30 continuous minutes of CPR were taking a toll on his body. The staff from the diner were around him. Some praying, others crying. Skid, the cook, had rushed into town for the doctor. The storm had blown the phones out, so going to town by truck and tracking the doctor down had been the only option. Patricia was there, right by Troy's side. When she saw that the chest compressions weren't going to work, she began to pray. "God," she prayed with tears in her eyes, "breath your life back into our friend. Let him live again!"

 Troy was praying too, only not out loud. He couldn't focus on forming the words while maintaining the mental energy he was giving to the compressions. This was his friend, his mentor. He hadn't known Judson long, but he cared about him. He told all of these things to whatever heavenly being might be listening, but nothing was working. With a growl of anger and desperation, Troy began to use his fist to hit the spot above Judson's heart. "Let it be me!" He screamed through the rain and the clouds to whatever lived beyond the sky. His life was small, he thought. He was a hamster on a wheel. He would do the same things day after day until he died of old age, and he knew it! He also knew that Judson had a purpose far greater than the average man. Judson had never said this, but Troy knew it. Again, he screamed to the sky. "TAKE ME INSTEAD!" With a final hit Troy started to cry. You couldn't see his tears through the rain that had soaked his face, but Patricia knew. With love for the young boy in pain, she placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her, and together they cried for the loss of their friend. 

As their tears dropped, the rain stopped. The sky cleared and the birds resumed their summer song. Still in each other's embrace, they parted when they heard someone speak. 

"You two just sat there kissing while I was dying in a puddle of mud?"

"Jud!!" Troy shrieked as he broke away from Patricia and resumed his spot by his boss's side. " We thought you were gone!"