Praying for War: The Collin War Chronicles

by W. C. Hoffman

  “That was quicker than losing my virginity,” Koby said when he appeared downstairs.

  Collin shrugged. “Scrub and go. No need to dawdle.”

  Koby gave the frying pan a quick scrub, rinse, and set it on top of the stove to dry.

  “Let’s go then.”

  They exited the house. Collin pulled the door closed behind them and followed Koby down the stairs to the sidewalk. He was surprised to see the streets dotted by hundreds of people making their way toward the church.

  “Wow. That’s a unique sight,” said Collin. “It’s like a mass migration. I had no idea there were so many people here.”

  “Oh?” Kobyashi smiled. “Yeah. Well, I guess I’ve gotten used to it.”

  “Everybody goes?”

  “Except for the Eagles, yes.” Koby nodded. “When the fever unraveled our lives and caused civil society to crumble, people turned to the government and the church for help and protection from criminals and the fever. Government is made of normal people who have their own lives to worry about, while the bond among the faithful proved to be stronger. So I guess that lesson stuck with people.”

  Collin paused a moment before saying, “Why not the Eagles? Busy with guard duty?”

  “Pretty much,” Koby said. “Pastor Pendell meets with them separately. Guard duty is heavier during service just because the town is so vulnerable, while some of the guys get to sleep in.”

  “That must be nice,” said Collin. He returned a wave from his neighbors.

  “Yet another perk afforded to the alpha males of society.”

  Collin laughed.

  “So if the Eagles are for defense, who polices the streets?”

  “In town there’s not much crime. The Eagles take care of police work when it’s needed. Outside in the woods it’s another story. That’s where the Vipers lurk,” said Koby.

  He met the Vipers in the hospital and could understand Koby’s ominous tone.

  Pastor Pendell stood outside the church greeting people as they made their way up the steps. Collin thought he looked an awful lot like a politician working the rope lines.

  “Good morning, Pastor,” said Collin with a wave as they made eye contact.

  “Good morning to you,” said Pastor Pendell grinning widely. “We’ve been blessed with more beautiful weather. Please go in and have a seat.”

  Pastor nodded at Koby, thanking him for restoring the power earlier that morning.

  Collin and Koby each shook hands with Pastor Pendell before entering the church.

  “I’m sitting in the back. You mind?” said Collin. He pointed to a pair of chairs at the end of a row.

  “I don’t mind at all,” said Koby. He lowered his voice. “To be honest, most of the time, I sleep or daydream about work stuff. Or hot women.”

  Collin chuckled.

  Doris spotted them before they could sit down and blend in with the crowd. She waved a hand at them and hurried over politely. She wore a pastel yellow dress with little white flowers, which made her stand out in the crowd like a beacon. As soon as she reached Collin, she wove her hand through his arm, linking them together.

  “Collin, would you like to join us up front?” Doris said.

  “That’s sweet but I was actually hoping you’d like to join us back here. I’m trying to avoid too much attention,” said Collin. He tried pulling away gently so he could sit down, but the old lady had a firm grip. He looked at Koby for help.

  “The ladies from the women’s auxiliary would love to meet you,” Doris added.

  “Yeah, go meet the ladies, Collin,” said Koby with a huge grin. “It’ll be fun.”

  Doris must have taken that as consent.

  “Great, right this way,” she said, pulling Collin along with her.

  He waved at Collin and said, “See ya later buddy.”

  Collin turned and shook his fist at Koby, which just made him laugh.

  As Doris led him slowly down the aisle, clutching his arm as if she knew he was a flight risk, he became aware of the quiet stares, whispers, and buzz that his presence was generating. It was exactly why he wanted to stay in the back. She was probably eating this up.

  Collin felt bad for thinking that. He didn’t know her that well, so he shouldn’t judge her. All the attention did give him pause. He looked around at the people watching him. He nodded and waved at a few people. One woman blushed and waved back. He realized that he was the closest thing these good folks had to a celebrity in their broken world. Pastor Pendell called him a miracle. Others told him privately that he gave them hope. Should he deny them that hope?

  Doris stopped at the front of the church. Collin half expected her to introduce him to the entire congregation. Thankfully, she simply gestured for him to take a seat in a row full of middle-aged and older ladies in the first two rows on the left side of the church. He couldn’t have imagined a less desirable place to sit.

  A couple dozen women looked at him with beaming smiles. Collin looked back, smiled awkwardly, and gave a brief wave. He sat down as quick as he could and Doris squeezed in beside him, trapping him there.

  Almost on cue, music started playing, and a choir filed out of a hidden door. They stood on a small raised platform in matching black and red robes and began to sing. Everyone reached forward to pull out a small blue book, turning dutifully to the recommended page on a black and white board at the front of the church. Sensing his confusion, Doris helpfully pointed it out to him. He nodded and smiled.

  On some subtle cue that completely escaped Collin, the entire congregation stood up. He was caught off guard and remained seated until Doris poked him for being too slow to join in. He smiled again, hating himself for not running away from this town and taking his chances in the woods.

  He played the part though, even attempting to lip sync the song.

  They sang several more lines before the song mercifully came to an end. On another cue everyone but Collin sat. Doris tugged on his shirt and he quickly sat down. Women giggled behind him.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly, feeling his face redden. “I’m completely lost without you.”

  “My pleasure, dear,” she said proudly. She smiled and sat a little more straight.

  Pastor Pendell strode out of a door hidden in an alcove behind the podium opposite where the choir had emerged.

  Now that the process no longer required his participation, Collin’s mind wandered elsewhere.

  His thoughts immediately went to his dream and how it related to other dreams and flashbacks he’d experienced. For some reason, he could never see people’s faces. He’d get a sense of their form and personality but he could never truly see them. It was as if someone went in and intentionally blurred every memory he had.

  He was vaguely aware of Pastor Pendell making references to him. Doris nudged him a few times and he looked up and smiled. It seemed to be sufficient.

  One reference did catch his ear though. Pastor Pendell compared Collin’s awakening to Jesus rising on Easter Sunday and ascending into heaven. The comparison to Jesus made him uncomfortable, but he wasn’t about to interrupt the Pastor. Much better to leave him to the business he knew best.

  Distracted from his thoughts, Collin took some time to look around the church and satisfy his curiosity. He felt like he’d sat in churches like this before. As usual, he couldn’t pinpoint any references from his past, but it felt like a good mental exercise to compare what he saw to the impressions hiding in the shadows of his mind. If he was lucky, something he saw might unlock a memory.

  Behind the podium where Pendell spoke, stood a massive white cross carved with a depiction of crucified Jesus. Collin never understood the fixation with the mechanism of Christ’s death, but so many churches featured his crucifixion, that it was an expected feature. Just behind the cross was a large, ornately carved wooden dresser, with decorative backing that reached up to the ceiling. It’s top edge was punctuated by miniature spires of varying height. Set in the wood, above the dresser, was a
tall, ancient looking painting of Jesus looking regal and holy in a white robe.

  Given the intense social pressure to attend church, he wondered what happened to those who failed to conform. Were any of those people still around? Collin got the impression they would be made to feel most unwelcome.

  The church was packed to beyond capacity. If there were still Fire Marshals around, one would shut this place down. With all of the seats taken, people were standing along the sides and in the back. He even noticed a few sitting cross-legged in the aisle.

  He sighed. Nothing so far brought forth a memory.

  Then he noticed some of the people staring at him. Some smiled, some looked neutral, but he could suddenly feel dozens of pairs of eyes laser-focused on him. It made Collin want to melt in place and puddle underneath the pew. But he also couldn’t help wondering how many of the people had really come to church that morning to see him. The survivor.

  Being the new guy in a small town drew attention. Being the new guy in a small town, and the first to awaken from a catastrophic disease that had supposedly wiped out society, was on a whole other level.

  Collin sighed and focused on the sermon.

  It was incredible the influence that Pastor Pendell wielded in Goshen, especially for an African-American man. Montana wasn’t exactly a racially diverse state. When Collin lived in Kalispell during his sophomore year of high school, his friend Joel was the only black kid in the whole town. A fact made slightly more difficult since he was also adopted. They had played on the football team together.

  The vivid recollection surprised Collin.

  Did the Fighting Beavers of Goshen still play football? He was dying to ask. Collin glanced at Doris and realized that she was deeply entranced by Pastor Pendell.

  Best not to interrupt, he thought but made a mental note to ask about football at lunch.

  Collin leaned back and sat politely through the rest of Pastor Pendell’s service.

  Several times, Collin found himself drawn into parts of Pendell’s sermon by his deep voice and rhythmic speech pattern. There was no question that Pendell was charismatic when he was preaching. You could see his passion for the material burning in his eyes.

  That didn’t stop Collin from being among the first to exit the church once the sermon concluded. After a brief thank you and goodbye to Doris and her friends, he swiftly dodged through the crowd to the fresh air outside. He’d done the same thing after the Council meeting the night before too.

  On his way out of the church, several people stopped him to congratulate him and welcome him “back.” Collin shook their hands politely but hustled away as fast as he could.

  He made his way down the steps to the gravel road without waiting for Kobyashi.

  Chapter Seven

  Collin walked home thinking about how last night the town seemed so mysterious, while daylight revealed it as a rather generic looking American town. The kind you’d drive through without stopping but still remark on its quaint, small town charm.

  The quick flowing river was the soundtrack of Goshen that could be heard almost everywhere. The soothing splash and burble of the water pulled him toward the riverbank as he walked down the street. Snow was still melting off the peaks from the surrounding mountains and working its way down their slopes, filling the river with spring runoff.

  On the way to church, he noticed there was a tiny park not far from the bridge where he could sit. The park was little more than a large, abstract shape of grass with a bench, a garbage can, some trees and a paved path running around it all.

  There was also a small playground for children. Collin had observed a decent number of kids in the food hall and at church service. He sighed to himself and wondered how different life in this new world would be for a child who knew nothing of what had come before.

  No one else was around which fulfilled the key points for Collin, that it was empty and quiet.

  Collin sat down on the bench and leaned back. A soldier crossing the bridge gave him a short wave. Collin waved back. Then he turned his attention to the water, watching it ripple and curl around rocks before it slowed into a calm pool under the bridge before continuing into the distant mountains, which hugged the town on three sides.

  Truly, it was a spectacular area, full of beauty and a sense of calm.

  Collin watched the water and tried to clear his mind. He hoped relaxing might trigger memory flashes. So far nothing else he tried had worked. The flashbacks seemed to be random, not necessarily set off by a sound or smell like he originally guessed. Dr. Horner told him that his memories would probably return slowly over time, of their own accord. He didn’t want to wait. He wanted to remember everything now.

  Collin took a deep breath, enjoying the cool spring air. He stood up and stretched and slowly meandered along the shore of the river.

  One-hundred twenty-seven steps was all he’d taken when he heard crunching gravel behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Collin saw Julie and Koby heading toward him. He stopped to let them catch up.

  “Hey guys, how’s it going?” Collin asked.

  “Better now that I’m away from Logan,” said Kobyashi.

  “We just wanted to catch you up on everything, and give you a chance to ask us questions. Pastor wanted to do it himself but you know, running a town is demanding work,” said Julie. “So he sent us instead.”

  “No patients today?” asked Collin.

  “Nothing until after lunch. It’s usually slow around the hospital, unless there’s an attack and we take casualties,” she said. “And now that you’re not there, we have a lot less work to do.”

  “Do you have a staff at the hospital?” Collin asked. He almost slapped himself in the face when he realized he had witnessed the murder of two nurses. “I’m sorry. Those two women. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Janet and Mia were both great nurses. It’s going to be tough now that they’re gone.” Her voice trailed off.

  Kobyashi took up the slack. “I suppose we should start at the beginning, right? The fever and all that preceded it.”

  Collin nodded, not that he had much choice. He already knew Koby well enough to know that his new friend was about to drop a knowledge bomb on him.

  Koby thought for a moment, tapping a finger against his chin.

  “What do you know about bees and agriculture?” he finally said.

  Collin snorted. “The basics that everyone learns - they make honey and pollinate plants.”

  “Not just any plants,” said Kobyashi. “They pollinated many of the major crops that people around the world relied on. For many years prior to the fever, the bee population was suffering from colony collapse disorder caused by pesticides and other things such as mites, climate change, and habitat loss.”

  “And this caused people to go into comas?” Collin said, confused.

  “Not directly,” Koby said. “So, bee populations were collapsing, and it affected agriculture and how much food was available. People grew irate at the lack of food, starvation was on the rise, and that sparked a lot of crime. Desperate people will do anything to survive. The streets filled with protesters, people fought over food, and the cost of produce and, well, most food skyrocketed. Eventually recognizing that they ignored the root causes for too long, governments and businesses scrambled to do whatever they could to fix the problem. Sadly, it was too little, too late.”

  Julie cut in. “One solution they explored was a line of genetically modified crops that would produce more pollen, deter pests, and be safer for bees than the previous pesticides.”

  “Yeah, that was the problem there,” said Kobyashi. “I mean, how is it going to help the bees if the plants produce more pollen? It was a strange approach in my opinion, but they were clutching at anything. The company that developed the GMO crops was able to get them to the market quickly, like within months. It was almost like they had them ready for years just sitting there waiting to be used. And then the law of unintended consequences kicked in.”
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br />   “What does that mean?” Collin asked. “And what are GMO crops?”

  “GMO is an acronym that stands for genetically modified organism. Normally it’s a safe process by which agricultural companies try to improve crops. In fact, before the fever, all major crops were genetically modified in some way, either through selective breeding or through more specific alterations in a lab. The problem was that the pollen produced by this new line of crops had a serious flaw which was overlooked in the rush to market,” said Kobyashi.

  Doctor Horner nodded and said, “The alterations and the pollen were flawed, deeply flawed. It not only accelerated the loss of bee populations, but it also made people sick. The infected get terrible fevers and fall into a coma caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. It’s actually quite fascinating how it happens.”

  She glanced up at the two men when no one responded. Collin and Koby both gaped at her.

  “Um...from a medical science perspective. Of course, it’s been a terrible tragedy,” she quickly added.

  Koby shot Collin a look.

  Collin raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything.

  Their meandering walk brought them near the bridge. Collin slowly started across the bridge.

  “People all around the world were falling into these fevered comas which were labor intensive to maintain. Mind you, this was happening by the thousands, maybe by the millions. Many died after just a few days because the hospitals were full; the rest didn’t receive adequate care. More died as resources began to diminish, which of course, made things worse. A vicious circle.” Julie sighed as she brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “Essentially, cities filled with people slowly wasting away.”

  “With no one left to keep things running, things spiraled out of control,” Collin said. He let out a low whistle as he contemplated what that must have looked like.

  “Basically, yeah,” said Kobyashi. “It turned into a big cluster. Basic services began to fail and things went from bad to worse. Border skirmishes erupted as people migrated in search of food and medicine. Basically anything they could find – dogs, cats, and rats become common meals.”