Chapter Five
   "How much longer are we going to be in here?" Sam asked aloud, knowing
that Al would answer.
   "Youčre not gonna like this one." Al said, seeming more like his old
self.  "All night."
   "I hope not much longer." Grant said at the same time.  His worry for his
sister was obvious.
   The man who had been giving updates every half hour or so had returned to
the stage.  "Things have not gotten any worse.  We can be so thankful that
the electricity has not gone out."
   As soon as the words came from his mouth, everything went dark.
   "Oh, boy." Sam muttered.  "Here we go."
   The man in charge was at loss for words.  "I-I don't know what to do."
   In one voice, the students yelled, "pray!"
   "That's not a bad idea, Sam." Al said softly, shocking his friend.
   "That's a good idea." The man on the stage said.  "Get into groups and
begin to pray."
   For what seemed like hours, the kids prayed.  They were interrupted
around one o'clock in the morning when Wayne came back down to join them.
Sinda had already been taken to the hospital and she was doing fine.  She
and Susan would return to their dorm, one of the two that had electricity,
and would be safe. 
   "I want to see the flood." Conrad said suddenly.  "It must look awesome."
   "That's not a good idea, guys." Sam said, remembering what Al had said
about why the kids had left.
   "Come on, Trinity." Sapphire said.  "Your dad will never know if we just
sneak out the back."
   "Come on." Grant pleaded with her.  "It can't be that bad.  Besides,
maybe we can get to our dorm."
   "Yeah, we could see Sinda and sleep in our beds instead of here." Marta
joined in.
   Sam knew that he wasn't going to convince them otherwise.  Suddenly, he
had a thought.  "Hey, Dad," he called out.  "Will you take us up to see the
water?"
   "What are you doing, Sam?" Al asked, shocked by the tactic that his
friend was taking.
   "Trust me." Sam mouthed to Al.  Wayne agreed and the group walked through
the crowd on the floor and made their way up the stairs to the lobby.  They
walked over to an open door and looked out across the baseball field.
   "Wow." Sam could only think of that word as he watched the moonlight
shining off of the water that covered the field.  The fences were completely
covered; the ten foot backdrop fence sticking only two feet out of the
waters.  
   "What's that?" Conrad asked, noticing some movement on the water.  As the
kids watched, the object moved into the moonlight and they realized that it
was a canoe, rowing across the baseball field.
   In somber silence, they started to return to the floor of the arena.  Sam
immediately excused himself to the bathroom, wanting to talk to his friend
before he Leaped.  The others went back to their seats, the idea of leaving
the arena completely out of their minds.
   "You did it, Sam." Al said, reading the handlink.  "None of the kids here
die.  You should be Leaping soon."
   "I wanted to talk to you before I Leaped, Al." Sam said, excited.  He
managed to keep his voice down.  "I'm at peace now, Al.  I've found the
reason I've been Leaping around. I've found God!"
   Al stared at his friend.  "Are you serious?"
   "Very."
   "I've gotta go, Sam." Al said abruptly.
   "What?"
   "I have to talk to Trinity before you Leap." Al said, hurriedly opening
the Imaging Chamber door and disappearing before Sam could protest further.