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Chapter 24

  
   "Josh?", Zane asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

   "I was going to ask you the same question", Josh answered. He awkwardly held a clean glass plate in his hands as he looked stared at Zane.

   "My parents helped with the making of the statue", Zane answered. "President Ben-Judah invited us as a thank you to what they did."

   "I recognized most of the people here from the news reports on the construction of the statue", Josh said. "Everyone here helped with the statue in some way, shape, or form."

   "But then why are you here?", Zane asked. "You said you're mom was a florist."

   "President Ben-Judah said he was impressed with my blog", Josh answered. "He wanted me to give a speech for him at the World Peace Picnic. He invited me and my mom and I to spend some vacation time here at the White House."

   Zane blinked in surprise, but quickly composed himself. "Let's get our food", he said in a low voice. "Talk as we walk."

   Josh nodded and followed closely behind Zane. "Kind of weird we were both invited to the White House", he whispered. "You think it has something to do with us on Facebook?"

   Zane nodded. "It has to be. The vice president kept giving me a look the whole way here."

   "What kind of a look?", Josh asked, scooping some eggs onto his plate.

   "A look that said he knew", Zane answered. He plopped two pieces of French toast onto his plate. "He knows about the messages. I'm sure of it."

   "I'm still thinking he's the A.C", Josh said, putting a muffin on his plate.

   Zane looked up at him, puzzled. "A what?", he asked.

   "A.C", Josh said, lowering his voice. "The Antichrist."

   "Antichrist is one word", Zane whispered back. He faced forward again. "But I think you're right. It has to be him."

   "I know, right?", Josh exclaimed, almost excitedly. "The guy acts like he hates everything that moves."

   Zane nodded in agreement. "He didn't like it when President Ben-Judah was playing with my sister. He didn't even talk to us on the way here."

   "I think the vice president is using President Ben-Judah as a puppet", Josh said quickly. "You notice on the news whenever President Ben-Judah is making a speech the vice president is always there, like right next to him? I bet he controls the president."

   "People have already thought about that", Zane said, rolling his eyes. "It's just a theory."

   "People thought the world ending was just a theory", Josh retorted, "and now we're nearing the return of a king; the end of our world."

   Zane sighed as he plopped some hash browns onto his plate. "I never thought a YouTuber's theory would actually be something", he muttered.

   "So, let's recap", Josh replied, following so closely to Zane that he nearly stepped on Zane's heels. "The vice president is the Antichrist, and he is using President Ben-Judah as his voice."

   "We think he is", Zane corrected. He glanced around the room, making sure no one was taking notice of their conversation.

   "Yeah", Josh agreed. "We know that someone, most likely the government, is monitoring everyone on Facebook and other social media websites and picking off people who believe in the king that's coming. Also, the vice president is making people take the mark so he can recreate the population to build a world of his design."

   Zane stared up at Josh, perplexity written all over his face. "I don't think that's why he's giving them the mark, Josh."

   "Hey, it's a motive", Josh said, shrugging his shoulders. "I think that's all we know."

   They stepped away from the table, having gotten everything they wanted on their plates. "After you get settled in", Josh whispered, "meet me back here. We can look around and see if we catch anything suspicious or out of place."

   Zane nodded. "I'll come down at 1:30. Meet me then."

   Josh nodded in agreement and walked away from Zane to his table. Zane stared after him, then began walking towards the table Mom had picked out. Is everything actually working out for us, he wondered, or will things just go downhill?