by Hart, Stella
“Okay.”
“He’s about to give a speech to the members. Let’s go and get a seat close to the front. He’ll want us there to support him.”
A pulpit had been set up on the far right end of the marquee. My father stood behind it, his hands resting on a copy of His Word. Mom sat on a white chair a few feet from the pulpit, and I sat on her lap.
Once the members of the congregation and all their children were present and waiting for my father’s speech with bated breath, he raised his hands in the air and let a bright smile spread across his handsome face. “What a wonderful day we’ve been blessed with!”
This was met with a resounding cheer and a smattering of applause.
“I hope you’ve all had a chance to sample some of the delicious dishes our lovely wives have cooked up for today,” he went on. He patted his stomach. “I certainly have. Now, we’ve got a lot of fun events planned for this afternoon, but before we begin, I wanted to say a few words. Serious words.”
He paused, and his smile vanished. A few people in the crowd began to look worried. I wasn’t worried, though. Whenever my father let his accent come out, that meant he was excited and ready to deliver some good news.
“You all know the new God has blessed me with the ability to hear His words and communicate them all to you. But as the old saying goes: with great power comes great responsibility. I am responsible for each and every one of you. Your words. Your actions. Your lives.” He paused and cast his steely gaze around the marquee. “You are my people. My flock. To me, the safety of you and your families is the most important thing in the world. And right now, with the new millennium approaching, we’re facing a dire threat.” He banged his hand on the pulpit, startling me and several others.
There was another pause, and then my father held up the copy of His Word. “Men, I trust that by now you’ve cast aside the Bibles you used to own in favor of this, the true testimony of the new God?”
There was a murmur as the men nodded and confirmed this. I yawned and glanced off to the left. Beyond the tent were miles upon miles of sugarcane fields, stretching almost as far as the eye could see. In the distance just beyond them, I could see smoke rising near the horizon. It was the direction Amiens lay in.
I nudged my mother. “What’s that?” I whispered.
She glanced over, quickly catching sight of the distant spiraling smoke. “Something must’ve caught on fire in the town. It happens easily on hot days.”
“Oh.” I hoped it wasn’t the school. I liked going there and learning. Most of the other kids didn’t, but I thought it was fun.
I returned my attention to my father’s speech.
“Those who have read every word of the book will know that our God is going to test us one day. We are all His creatures, but many of us have strayed from the path. The righteous path. He is sick and tired of watching this go on, and he’s going to punish the world. He will purge the lands with fire and poison all the great bodies of water. The sinners will perish on that day, and I believe it is coming very soon.” He slammed his hand on the pulpit again. “But we… we will survive, and from the fires of wickedness we shall emerge and continue to grow and prosper, like a new branch from a rotten tree. I have a plan to save us all, if you’ll let me.”
There was another cheer from the members, and my father raised his hands in the air again. “The details of this plan were spoken directly to me by our God. It’s been hard for me to keep it a secret from you, but it was necessary.” He paused for a few seconds. “I’m ready to tell you now. Are you ready to hear it?”
Everyone in the tent nodded, their eyes wide.
“He has commanded me to build a place called New Eden. A place we can go to be safe when the cleansing begins. So for the last couple of years, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.”
I looked at my mother again. “What did he build?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure, honey,” she whispered back to me. “He doesn’t tell me much these days.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe he’s talking about that old church he wanted to refurbish. He’s been spending a lot of time on that part of the ranch with building contractors.”
“Maybe.” I frowned. The old white clapboard chapel looked as decrepit as ever when I looked at it earlier, but to be fair, it was quite far off in the distance. Maybe it looked better up close.
“I hope you’ll be ready to follow me when the day comes,” my father continued. “I’ve had many visions about it, and lately, they’ve been coming on even stronger. Every night for the last month. I know for a fact that the cleansing fire will be set upon this Earth very soon.”
A worried titter spread through the crowd.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the only threat,” my father said. “You see, many others out there know we are the chosen ones. They can’t stand it. Those wicked men want to see us fall, and they will do whatever they can to try and stop us from surviving the fires. They will persecute us, and they—”
He stopped abruptly, thick brows drawing together as his eyes snapped up and over the crowd. A few people turned around to see what he was staring at. I craned my neck and did the same.
Several dark vans were coming down the driveway. The vehicles stopped short of the marquee, and several men in black clothes and masks jumped out. They strode toward the tent, shoulders squared and steps purposeful.
“May He save us all,” my father said, eyes widening as he placed one hand over his heart. “They’re here.”
2
Jolie
“Stay calm!” my father commanded, stepping out from behind the pulpit. “They’re here for us, but I’ll try to stop them. They just need to hear about our God and everything he has to offer if they agree to follow him.”
“Jacob!” Mom shouted, clutching at his shirt as he hurried past us. “Who the hell are those men?”
He didn’t reply. He kept walking toward the strangers with his palms raised in the air. It looked like he was surrendering, but to what or whom, I had no clue.
“Welcome, friends,” he said in a loud, clear voice. “I know why you’re here. I know you—”
One of the masked men was holding a gun, and he reached out and smashed the butt of it into my father’s head as he spoke. He collapsed to the ground with a grunt. I screamed.
My shriek of horror was echoed by the other children in the marquee, and pandemonium broke out as people began to scatter in every direction in an attempt to escape the dangerous men.
The rest of them were pulling out guns now. One of them held his up and fired it directly at Mrs. Landry, Adam’s mother. She didn’t make a sound. She simply crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from her chest.
My ears were ringing, and my heart felt like someone was clenching it in a fist, constricting my blood. For a moment, I thought I might faint.
My mother scooped me into her arms and took off running, squeezing me tightly against her chest. A cacophony of gunshots cracked through the air, and people started falling all around us. I screamed and screamed and screamed, but it was barely audible in the mayhem. The whole place was a seething mass of terror and confusion.
My mother suddenly dropped me on the ground and fell to her knees behind one of the buffet tables, which had been upended in all the chaos. She choked out my name. “Jolie…”
“Mommy!” I shouted, pawing at her as she clutched at her stomach. “Please, get up!”
But she couldn’t. I saw it now. She was covered in blood. One of the men had somehow managed to get her in the back, and the bullet must have gone all the way through to her front.
“Just get up for a few more minutes, Mommy,” I begged in a small voice, crouching over her. “We’ll run inside and hide, and I’ll find a doctor to help you. Please!”
She shook her head. Her face was contorted in an expression of agony. “You… you need to run,” she whispered.
I knew she wasn’t going to come with me, no matter ho
w much I begged. She was already too weak.
“I love you,” I said, my voice breaking. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I love you too, darling,” she said, taking my hand in hers. Her features grew even more twisted as the terrible pain wracked her body. “Jolie, you have to get away from all these men. Go to the town. Don’t look back.”
“I’ll find Daddy,” I said. “They didn’t shoot him. I’ll run away with him.”
She shook her head. “No. I meant… I know what’s happening. I see it now. You need to listen. This isn’t… he isn’t…” She stopped midsentence and let out a groan. Then she crumpled. Her grip on my hand loosened, and her eyes closed.
Hot tears streamed down my face. I wanted to do what she told me. I wanted to be strong for her. But I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed. The tears were endless and my chest ached so much I could barely breathe. “Mommy, please wake up. Please!” I begged, pulling on her arm.
“Jolie.” My father’s voice echoed in my ear, and I felt myself being torn away from my mother despite my screams and protests.
“No! Let me stay!” I cried.
He shook his head. “We need to go. Now.”
He scooped me into his arms. I looked up at his face as he carried me away from the blood-spattered tent and hurried around to the back of the mansion. “They hurt Mommy,” I said between sobs.
My father looked at me with a stricken expression. Blood was trickling down his forehead from where the bad man hit him earlier. “I know,” he said softly. “I saw. It’s too late now. I can’t help her. But I can still help you, my little lamb. You’re safe now. I promise.”
He was heading for the abandoned chapel, legs crashing through the long dry grass as he carried me in his strong arms. “Where are we going?” I asked, clutching at his shoulder.
“To a safe place,” he said soothingly. “A new paradise in the old church.”
“Mom said it’s dangerous,” I said before breaking into a fresh set of tears. She would never be able to warn me about dangerous things ever again. From now on, it would just be me and my father.
“I know, darling,” he said. “But I’ve fixed it.”
“It looks the same,” I choked out, wiping my eyes as we drew closer.
“Only above the ground. Beneath it, I’ve built New Eden.”
I was too shocked by his reply to continue crying or arguing. The words and tears simply dried up.
We entered the musty old church a moment later. Up at the front, there was a huge metal hatch lying flat on the ground where the first few rows of pews and a pulpit used to stand. It looked just like a storm shelter door I once saw in a movie about a tornado in another state.
“Daddy, we can’t go underground!” I said, struck with a sudden black terror. It wasn’t possible. My mother explained to me a long time ago why we couldn’t have underground shelters or basements in Louisiana. The water table was too high. That was what damaged this church in the first place. We couldn’t even bury bodies in cemeteries in certain parts of the state; that’s how much water was in the soil.
“All things are possible under the new God’s protection,” my father said, voice calm and clear. He pulled the metal door open and I saw steps descending into darkness. “Go on, little lamb. Go down there. I have to return to the house to gather the others.”
“No!” I cried, clutching at his shirt. “It’ll flood. I don’t want to drown!”
My father smiled patiently and knelt so that he was at my level. “Darling, you must trust me. This place was designed and engineered by the best of the best. Building underground safety shelters is not impossible here, contrary to popular belief.”
“It is! Mommy said so.”
He shook his head. “She was wrong.”
I folded my arms. “Mommy is never wrong.”
He rubbed the side of his head and sighed with exasperation. “I’ll try and explain a little bit, okay? It’s a huge task to build underground structures here, because massive French drainage systems have to be set up, but it’s still possible, and with the help of all my contractors and their staff working day and night, I’ve made it happen. Just as He commanded me. Do you understand?”
“No. What’s French drainage?” I asked. I was so confused. Everything was happening so fast.
“It’s a way to pump out water from the ground. It’s perfectly safe, darling.”
I glanced warily at the steps. “I don’t want to go down there,” I murmured. “I’m scared.”
My father stood and gently pushed me. “Go. There are already a few people in there who can show you around. I have to go back and try to save the others. All you have to do is walk down.”
I sniffed and wiped my face again. “No, I can’t.”
“Please, darling. What happened today is just the beginning of the Great Reckoning. The fires are going to start soon, and I need you to be safe when that happens. I need as many members of the church as possible to be safe.”
I could hear the desperation in his voice. It made me think of all the others out there, screaming and terrified, desperate to get away from the horrible men with the guns.
“Okay,” I finally whispered. “I’ll go.”
He smiled. “Good girl.”
I took a deep, shaky breath, and then I stepped down into the darkness.
3
Jolie
May 2nd, 2010
New Eden Commune
I knelt by my bed, hands clasped and eyes closed.
“Please bless the men as they head out to search the Wastelands for more food next week. I also pray that you keep the land around New Eden safe and unharmed as you have already done for so many years, so that the other men in our flock may continue to work the fields. I know I am not deserving of your love and devotion, but I will always strive to be better for you. In your name, amen.”
I opened my eyes and looked up at the wooden cross hanging on the dark brown wall of my living quarters. The room was small and spartan, but I was still grateful for it. Here at New Eden, I had more than most people in the world. Safety. Clean water. Food.
I was terrified when I first arrived all those years ago, but in the end, there was nothing to fear. The underground shelter was amazing. It never flooded due to the drainage pumps set up around it, the temperature was usually stable, and it was big enough to fit over three hundred people with extra space for cooking, recreation and washing. There were also separate lesson rooms for boys and girls and a large church with beautiful gray stone detailing.
The men’s wing even had functioning electricity, a gift bestowed upon them by our God. Of course, the girls and women were not permitted to use electricity or even battery-powered appliances, as it interfered with the female organs. We knew this because my father had been warned by Him in a vision about the health effects technology could have on us.
On top of that, electrically-powered cleaning machines like people used to have in the old days left women with too much time to rest and relax. That was exactly what caused minds and hands to wander into feminine sinfulness. I understood that, but sometimes it was still hard for me to remember that only men had been given the gift. I missed some of the old electrical things a lot. Like proper lights. It would be nice if we could have them instead of candles.
Still, male or female, gift or no gift, we were all so very lucky to be here.
Not every member of the church had made it to the shelter on that fateful day eleven years ago, so there were only two hundred and thirty people at New Eden out of the three hundred or so who were part of the original church community. The young children had all survived the terrorist attack which preceded the Great Reckoning of the world, but every teenage boy and girl had been killed, along with all the women. Some men, too. Mostly the younger ones.
At first I was confused as to why the young children and older men were spared by the gunmen, but my father had explained it all. He said the terrorists wanted to get rid of us, so they’d murder
ed all the women to ensure that the church could no longer multiply. The teenagers and young men who were killed were simply caught in the crossfire.
My father had forgiven the terrorists for their heinous actions against our church, the Path of the Covenant, because they were simply lost souls who had been coerced into fighting us by the Devil himself. They were all dead now anyway, because on the same day they tried to wipe us out, the nuclear bombs started dropping.
Many leaders throughout the world had been influenced by our God to make this happen, and within a week of the first bomb, every major city in the world had been leveled. It was known as the Great Reckoning.
Billions had died when this occurred. All of them were sinners. They had to pay the price for the way they had been living, which went against His Word. The smaller cities and towns were razed too, by vengeful angels masquerading as humans. That must’ve been why we all noticed the smoke over Amiens that day. It was the beginning of the end.
But not for us.
The Path of the Covenant was thriving at New Eden. Upon our initial arrival all those years ago, my fellow children and I were shocked and distressed by what had happened to our mothers, but my father and his disciples—the Elders—had been very patient and taught us lessons on everything we needed to know about life.
They showed us the new order of the world. The proper roles for men and women. The appropriate way to think, speak, and pray. They taught us the new rules we must follow, too, along with the justifications behind them.
It was very hard to get used to, considering what the old world had been like for us. Some of us rebelled at first, but within a couple of years, we were all used to it and happy to live underground. It meant we were safe from the horrible effects of the fallout.
None of us had actually witnessed the nuclear destruction when the bombs started falling on the world outside. We would’ve died from the blasts if we’d been out there to see it all, but we knew it happened anyway because our God sent visions of the events to my father. He told us all about it, and some of the bravest men began venturing out into what was now the Wastelands not long afterwards to investigate the extent of the damage and locate some safe food sources for us.
