As the children ran along the narrow desire path Izzy shouted, "Stay in the center kids! This place is crawling with poison ivy and ticks."

Leon guided them through the bramble and agreed, "Don't touch the brush! Stay close."

The path was a little less than a mile long however the Tunnel Children moved slowly. Neither Leon or Izzy knew what they'd do once they made it to the docks.

Onyx grew younger and stronger everyday but she'd never walked this far in her 13 years of being an old lady. She needed to stop several times just to catch her breath.

JM held two squiggling babies on each hip, 8 month old Angel, and Lada, an adorable hispanic toddler. Lada refused to go another step. The whiny little girl slid out of JM's grasp and slumped onto the sandy path and bellowed, "I hungry!"

Murdok, marching in the center of the pack, took charge. "Look guys, it's not much further. Once we get there we can take a nap and have supper."

Panney tried his best to help. He pleaded, "I'll bet Miss Bell is there." He coddled, "I'm sure she'll l tell us a good story!"

That seemed to do the trick. Once again the two hundred exhausted children began moving slowly toward the sea.

SOD rustled in the tall twisted pine tree near the end of the path. He could smell the children getting closer. "Come along my drippy darlings... You are being led like meatballs to the sauce. So young, so tender, so gullible. It's time to pay the piper... but before you pay you're all gonna do a little dance."

SOD lifted his pointy chin and sent thousands more of his minions in the form of demon hornets. "Once they're all mixed up it will be hard to tell my organic killer bees from the army's deadly drones. Ooh I am so good at being bad!"

---

Marina watched the white ship anchored a mile off shore. As the wind picked up the large boat rocked back and forth. She wondered who the ship belonged to. Did the owner mean them harm or were they merely having trouble navigating? She knelt in the sand and prayed out loud, "O Mighty King, we need a miracle. We have enemies to our left and right, above us and below us... You parted the sea once! Will you do it again? We'd appreciate it if you'd do the impossible right about now."

As Marina ended her prayer a swarm of angry bees flew overhead blocking out the sun. She remembered another passage and her faith took hold of it. She said, "So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived."

Alfred knelt next to Marina and took her hand. He whispered, "How does this verse help?"

Marina felt vulnerable for the first time in a long time. She responded, "I guess the situation is different but faith is the same?"

Alfred put his arm around Marina and she rested her weary head on his broad shoulder. He pulled her close and agreed, "You're right my dear. Faith has power."

All of the tweens, teens and twenty somethings gathered near Marina and Alfred. They too knelt in the sand facing the ocean.

While Tommy comforted his little brother Devin, as well as the younger recruits, Grace and Speed sat on either side of Bell and explained the gloomy situation to her.

Bell responded, "I can hear them. Are they friendly bees? Sometimes they're innocently migrating. After the purple lights honey bees were almost nonexistent. What color are the bees?"

Grace nudged his snout under Bell's arm. She understood and put her arm around his furry neck. He explained, "These do not look like innocent honey bees Bell. They resemble hornets or wasps but are bigger, much bigger."

Bell nonchalantly replied, "Well that's not good. You can reason with a honey bee but wasps are not at all reasonable."

Speed nodded and said, "You got that right lady." He shivered as the buzzing swarm grew larger, louder and closer. He'd bitten a few yellow jackets in his day and ever since he'd been petrified of bees.

Alfred spoke up, "With the Author, we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies."

Marina looked at Alfred and whispered, "Psalm 60:12. You remembered."

Alfred continued, "The Lord is my light and my salvation..."

Marina added, "Whom shall I fear?"

Alfred said, "The Lord is the stronghold of my life..."

Alfred and Marina finished together, "Of whom shall I be afraid?"

Marina and Alfred embraced. Marina pulled back and looked deeply into Alfred's blue-gray eyes. "After all these years you still remember our memory verses?"

Alfred brushed a bit of sand from Marina's cheek. "I remember everything about you Marina. I'm sorry I walked away from the faith... I'm sorry I ever let you go."

Marina lifted her chin. "You did not let me go. When you closed The Book you also closed the chapter on our love."

Alfred asked shyly, "Marina, could we reopen that chapter?"

As Marina and Alfred kissed for the first time in over 40 years the hum of deadly drones, the swarm of killer bees and the angsty teenagers all faded into the distance. They heard nothing, they saw no one. They only felt the softness of one another's lips.

Alfred could die the happiest man on earth but then...

X lumbered over and pushed them apart. "Excuse me... but this is not the time for kissy faces." He pointed to the sky.

The killer bees were parting. Then the two groups of bees became four, The four groups spelled out four words.

X read them aloud, "You Will All Die."

Bell couldn't see what was going on. Agitated by what X said she jumped to her feet and shouted, "X why are you saying that??!"

X answered, "Not me pretty girl. X reads what bees spell in air."

Instead of becoming more alarmed Bell clapped her hands with glee and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness X! Your reading is really improving!"

-End of Chapter 48-

Author's Note: I hope the love story between Marina and Alfred comes across as sweet as I mean it to. I hope you're all experiencing sweetness every day. Thank you for your support. I love all of you. 🥰