Yoder stands at the head of the barn. Everyone, save for Amos. Seated on their makeshift beds. Paying full attention to his every word. Looking for a glimmer of hope. Yoder keeps it simple and sticks with a brief prayer, before trying to make his leave.

The questions start pouring in immediately, preventing him from doing so. Everyone yelling out their questions toward him. Knowing he has no choice, he puts his hands up and says.

"One at a time please!"

One man stands up.

"A few of us have been talking. And we have been wondering. Why does the vomit seem to be silver and glowing?"

"I have not seen any such thing. I suspect that is a byproduct of fear and imagination."

He shoots down the question immediately. Another raises.

"What about all that screaming?"

Yoder takes a somewhat more tactical approach this time. Not denying its existence but writing it off as nothing to be alarmed by. He says.

"Yes, I too have heard the cries of agony. Given the state these people are in, such cries are to be expected."

At this point chaos consumes the crowd again. All yelling over each other. Cries of, why is this happening to us. And when will this be over. No one willing to venture so far as to say.

Will any of us survive?

Yoder takes control of the crowd again. standing tall his voice booms out across the barn.

"I know some of you have been questioning your faith as of late. I hear you calling out. Why is this happening. What have we done to deserve this. Why is God allowing this to happen to us. And so on. But we must keep strong. We must keep faith. Let us not forget the story of Job. We have been blessed by this years harvest crop. Its bountiful even despite our inability to complete it. We have been blessed to be living here. Living righteously, when so many others have lost their way. Much like Job, we are being tested. Now more than ever before we need to focus on keeping faith and putting our trust in God."

"Are we the only ones dealing with this?"

A women asks.

"Though we do not know for sure. Given the facts, I believe that this disease reaches far beyond the boarders of our community. It seems evident that it was brought in from the outside world. It must have already been spreading there. Before it reached our walls."

"So god is testing the rest of the world too?"

The same woman replies.

"Testing? No, the rest of the world is being punished. Punished for straying too far from God's light."

I'm shocked as Yoder says this. He had always been scornful in his judgment of the outside world. But never had he crossed so far into disdain. This was much more extreme. The hatred radiating off his words giving the impression he was glad for this to happen. As though he wished death upon them all.

A voice from somewhere in the back calls out.

"Do they have a cure?"

"They very well may have a cure. We do not know. Nor will we find out. If there is a cure, I do not want it. You all seem to be missing the larger picture here. It was they that made this disease. It was they that plagued the earth with their filth. They that left God no choice but to purge once again. A new Sodom and Gomorrah!

Their attempts to cure this will only make matters worse. An attempt at a cure would be an affront to God himself. One I suspect he would not take lightly. Again I say we are being tested!

Resilience in Faith!

For it is we who shall inherit the earth!"

The crowd left in awe. Yoder storms out of the barn, before the low rumblings of hushed conversations being.

Amos returns to the barn shortly after Yoder's departure.

"Did Yoder see you?"

"No, I hid beside the barn watching the door. After I saw him leave. I watched him go until I could no longer see him. And snuck back in."

He hands me the journal. Whispering.

"I looked around but this was the only journal I could find."

"You took it?"

I ask. Having thought he would only skim through and look for anything we did not already know. Or if anything we know was missing from Yoder's own notes.

"I thought that was the plan. Besides, I couldn't just sit there and read it. There wasn't much time. It would have been too much to remember. And what if I had gotten caught?"

"Well what if we get caught now? When Yoder returns to his office. Which he may be doing right now. He's going to notice it's not there. We will have to sneak it back into his house tomorrow. Somewhere unexpected like in his kitchen. Make him think he just misplaced it."

Agreeing now, there is no way for us to sneak out again without raising suspicion. We are left no option but to wait until morning to find a solitary spot where we can read the journal.

We hunker down with everyone else. Having a little dinner, laid out like a pot luck. And joining in the general conversations happening. Until we all start settling down for bed.

I wake up to the sound of a horrible scream. High pitched and ear piercing. I look toward the barn door. Sure to find Susanna there, teeth still gnashing. Blood smeared on her face. Looking to find the source. Looking to find more.

Instead I see one of the little boys sitting up, sweating. Having had a nightmare. His brother already by his side. Reassuring him it was just a dream. It seems as though everyone is on edge. As there is no one not sitting up. turning their heads, looking all around nervously. Eventually we all fall back asleep for the night.

Morning comes, the sun barely risen. We are all simultaneously awoken by the sound of of the barn door crashing open, and the proclamation.

"A miracle has happened!"

Father Yoder standing at the now wide open door. Enters the Barn as he continues talking.

"Susanna has recovered!"

"Susanna has recovered!"

"Glory be!"

He once again takes the head of the barn.

"She has risen last night! Let us rejoice for the end of this disease is upon us. See for yourselves."

He points towards the open barn door. Our eyes now adjusted enough to make out Susanna, laying collapsed, Just in front of the barn door. He continues.

"This sweet child had arose in the night. She must have gone searching. Looking for anyone to help her. She must have heard the sounds coming from this barn. Making her way here seems to have taken all her strength. Unable to open the heavy barn door. Or even call for help she has collapsed here. God love this poor girl for she is alive!"

I stand up and call out to Yoder.

"I volunteer Amos and myself to take her back to her bed. Better though she may be. She is clearly in need of more rest. We will make sure there is plenty of food and water beside her bed."

"A fantastic idea Levi. Your help is ever appreciated. Please do make sure to leave a note stating that I personally shall check up on her every few hours, and so, if she is to rise again. There would be no need to risk her health in searching for us again. And do hurry back after. As I propose we have a breakfast feast in celebration."

Though internally I am terrified. I show only a calm exterior As I grab Susanna's arms. Amos Grabbing her legs. and we carry her to beside the barn. Out of sight of everyone in the barn. There, we put her into a wheel barrel. Which makes getting her home a breeze.

Leaving it at the bottom of the stairs he carry her up. It's a bit more taxing than the wheel barrel but nothing we can't handle. Once shes in her bed, I turn to Amos.

"Did you bring the journal?"

He nods.

"Lets quickly grab some bread and water. Run it up here, then go round back of the house."

We trek our way down the stairs and search through the still trashed kitchen. After taking the food up, we take the wheel barrel with us out the back door.

Drawing the journal out of his coats inside pocket Amos begins to speak.

"Do we have time for this? Yoder said hurry back. Surely he'll notice if we take too long."

"Yes but what he doesn't know is we took the wheel barrel with us. I figure that buys us at least an extra 20 minutes."

We sit down under a tree, crack the journal open and read.