Beacon of Life

D THE

ark will be brought to t

back: Jim and Chris were dead. And she was all alone in the world. She rolled out of bed and almost screamed from the pain. Every muscle in he

ecia she would drive up by herself. They were worried about her. Of the three of them, she was the least self-sufficient. She had only l

e a gun?” A

showed me ho

ith you at

t alone; I'd stop at a motel close to the freeway so you

s that she couldn't drive around, and to

ge by yourself. That way, you won’t have to stop too often for food. Other than that, pa

his?" Jillian asked.“Tom and I can dr

t out of here and

d to do some off-road driving to get around road blockage

ch meats, condiments and bread. Also, lots of peanut butter and jelly, graham crackers, and juice for hypoglycemic attacks. Peanut butter and jelly ha

Alecia's descriptions she would need to carry everything if she had to walk through the wreckage blocks, so she was careful to o

under control. She was on I-40 heading to California by 10:30 a

on't look at the bodies. Oh, no!” She saw a baby in a car seat, crushed between two cars. Another life ended before it had barely begun. She tried to run, but the tears blocked her vision, and she was carrying too much. She still had to go back for another load. Debating whether she s

with the Bronco on his birthday. He had wanted it for a long time but put off buying it so he would have more money to

e she could take. She reached

n has come upon you exce

e will not let you be tempt

ion he will also make the

o endu

to make it through this. I pray this in the name of your Son who endured

e ate it and got on the road. She had to stop several more times before reaching a flat piece of highway. There she could drive off-road and around the wrecks. She was

. On the second try, she found a room that was empty and had been made up by housekeeping. She brought in her suitcase and the ice chest, salty tears running down her cheeks. She remembered the last time she had been at a Holiday Inn. It was right before Chris was born. She

gotten the one thing she really w

sleep. Being a light drinker, she knew one glass would do the job. She would do it. She would get several bottles for the entire trip. It was against the

r, she put a bottle of Zinfandel, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, and Chablis

to get one, she heard it — a baby's cry. She must have imagined it — a manifestation

d that Netflix was still streaming, she ran through the listings and started watch

d silence. She started back to her room when she thought she saw a shadow behind her. W

nd. It reminded her of Brother Miller at her church

ral of his friends. But she rarely lied, and for some reason, she trusted him. Was this the help she had asked God

stopped here to shower and get some rest. And air conditioning. The air conditioner in our motorhome is temperamental - and the heat has made the baby cranky. But I'm rambling now. Would you like to

nya. “My husband and baby

meet my wife, Geri. Wha

" she a

his family was staying and the

you from?”

minutes from Nashville. Mike tell

land, but we've been traveling aroun

he retired.” A wave of sadness came over Ta

d the Army right out of college so we could retire at an early en

in the Army, Mi

ce Engineers designin

ried a year later. Three years ago, I left before it was t

rought out a little girl with blonde curls and blue eyes. “This is Marianne. She is hav

he prettiest little girl she had ever seen. “Hi Marianne, i

is she? T

Sweetie. Let’s get you a dry diaper and some warm milk an

new mommies with little idea of what they would need to do. Tanya broke down when she told Geri about burying Chris and Jim.

He saw Geri comforting Tanya and slipped into

ke and Geri were grieving for their parents. They had found both couples dead in their beds. Tanya knew it would take a long time for he

going to do or what's happened. O

ast like this in San Francisco, Virg

oro and now he

s stations are silent. That makes me think it's very widespread. I don't know what we should do. We can stay here for a while, but onc

dea, relieved to know she didn't need to finish the trip alone. Since Mike and Geri were driving a motorhome, they decided to move Tanya's things into the motorhome in the morning. She told them about the road blockages and how they would probably