July 12, 2021 • 21 mins
Sasha makes a decision.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Chapter eighteen, Sasha. Sasha didn't feel safe out on the
street after Anne's abduction. The next day, she'd volunteered for
four extra hours of duty in the emergency ward. She
changed bandages and administered antibiotic salves and delivered food to
wounded soldiers until her eyes started to glaze over and
doctor Brandt ordered her home. She'd barely had the energy
(00:24):
to eat that night, but by the time her driver
dropped her off at the House of Miriam, it was
dark and there'd been no one waiting for her. That
strategy hadn't worked. The day after that, doctor Brandt had
even tried to send her home early. Sasha had talked
him out of it, but not out of sending her
back downtown at the normal time. She was sure her
driver must have noticed how anxious she was. By the
(00:46):
time they reached the main drag, she was drenched in
sweat her hands were shaking. She asked him to drop
her off a half block down from the normal spot
so she could enter the square from the left side
and get a good look at who was hanging out
near the House of Miriam. Alexander had been there, of course,
sitting out in front of a building two doors down
from the house, along with one of his friends. Avoiding
(01:07):
them had brought her to the Cafe Clement, and then
something she could only assume was God's providence had bumped
her into a manual. He was sweet and fun to
talk to, and it was actually refreshing to have a
conversation with some one who didn't constantly quote scripture or
past her mike. She was surprised at herself for feeling
that way. A few weeks ago, she'd have given anything
to have an open conversation about her beliefs, but now
(01:30):
that she was deep within the Kingdom, it was nice
to talk about normal things with a normal boy. The
next day had brought her back to the hospital, which
was filled with wounded soldiers from an air strike on
a troop transport. Sasha had spent nine hours without a
break helping doctor Brandt cut clothing off of horribly burned
young men. She'd applied slick, gummy burned dressings and changed
(01:51):
ivy drips of pain killers. The day was long, bloody,
and brutal. Four men died in front of her eyes,
and there was no time to really think about it.
She knew that she should have been more horrified at
what she was seeing. But the exposed organs and burnt,
shriveled limbs didn't feel like parts of people. Even the
screams felt more like rhode hazards or bad weather than
(02:12):
damaged pieces of human beings. They were obstacles to be
dealt with. She and doctor Brandt dealt with them well.
A still small voice in the back of her mind
recoiled in horror at the sheer volume of human misery
she saw that day, But that voice was quieter than
it had been on other days, and it grew quieter
as the day went on and the death toll mounted.
Sasha had read about post traumatic stress disorder back in school.
(02:35):
She understood the mechanics of it. The people tended to
cope with terrifying situations by suppressing their fear. But this
didn't feel like that. It felt like she was just
doing her job, and she enjoyed her job. Before she
knew it, ten hours had gone by, and doctor Brandt
demanded she find a ride back to the House of
Miriam and get some rest. That was the first time
(02:56):
in the entire day when Sasha felt truly scared. It
started in her chest, her heart fluttered faster and faster,
until the flutter turned to a pounding so loud it
felt like someone was smashing a hammer on the inner
walls of her cranium. She pressed her back hard into
the seat of the jeep and hoped her growing panic
wasn't obvious to the driver. He dropped her off on
the other side of the square again. She didn't see
(03:19):
Alexander or his comrades near the House of Miriam this time,
but she knew that didn't mean they weren't watching the place.
She had plans to meet Emmanual again anyway. Sasha half
expected him to have moved on since she'd been so late,
but he was there, standing out in front of the
Cafe Clement when she arrived. I'm sorry, I'm so late,
she said. He shrugged in response, I just got here myself.
(03:40):
They dismissed us late. We had a special lecture before
dinner about a His face grew red and he trailed
off about what she poked. Maybe let's just sit down first, huh.
So they found a seat and ordered their coffee. Manny
tried to change the subject by asking Sasha about her day,
but she was curious about his reaction and would not
(04:01):
be dissuaded. I'll tell you all about my day if
you tell me about that lecture and why just thinking
about it made your face go red. He grew redder
and stared down into his coffee. Pastor came over to
lecture us about our duty and helping the heavenly kingdom grow.
You know our duty, Emmanual gave her a significant look.
(04:21):
She gathered his meaning, and then she blushed too. That's
uh why they bust us out here every day, he continued.
It's so we can get to know the local women
and then get to know them in the biblical sense.
She laughed in spite of herself. I think that was
the first off color joke I've heard in weeks. It
felt good and risque. It was actually the same sort
(04:43):
of thrill she'd gotten back home when she'd sneakily read
issues of Revelator and browsed the media feeds of various
martyrs brigades. You know, Emmanual, she said, You're not quite
like anyone else I've met here. It's nice to meet
someone who wasn't afraid to joke. I didn't think i'd
missed that. He was quiet for a little while Manny
stirred his coffee awkwardly cast his eyes down, he went paler,
(05:07):
you seem different too, I dunno this place. Maybe it's
not exactly what we thought it would be. She should
have gotten angry at that. It was the kind of
common that could have gotten a manual into a lot
of trouble. Why would he say that to me, she wondered?
And why am I okay with all this? Maybe it
was Marigold rubbing off on her. Maybe it was just
gradual disillusionment, the climax of a process that had started
(05:30):
with Alexander's betrayal. But the Heavenly Kingdom no longer felt
magical or even all that wholly. It's complicated here, she
finally said. I mean, before I came here, I knew
it couldn't be perfect no places, but yes, it's not
what I'd hoped to find exactly. Sasha felt a spike
of panic as soon as the words left her mouth.
(05:51):
You barely know this man, Sasha. His whole job might
be ferrying out potential disloyalty. She coughed and tried to
walk her admission back a little. It's still better than
the st f or any of the other Heathen states,
I have to keep telling myself that what's important is
what we're fighting for, not the imperfections we have to
live with. In this moment, hum he gave an on
(06:12):
committal grunt that surprised her. She hadn't expected anything specific exactly,
but that surprised her. He started to say something else,
then his eyes went wide. Who he started to say?
Sasha heard boot falls. She felt the presence of several
tall men behind her. The heavy, familiar scent of Alexander's
cologne filled her nostrils. Madyr Emmanuel Sanchez, Miss Sasha, may
(06:43):
the blessings of the lawd be with you and also
with you, Sascha replied by rote. Emmanuel chimed in a
second or two later. He sounded a bit awkward, like
he wasn't exactly sure which words to use. Alexander pulled
up a chair and set it against the right side
of the table. He sat down, placing himself between them.
He rested one arm on the table, but his left
(07:04):
arm hung directly over his side arm. He looked at Emmanuel, smiled,
and then looked at Sasha. She felt a wave of
nausea grabbed her by the guts and tug. His lips
curled up, revealing his straight white teeth. Excuse me, Manny said,
but who are you? Alexander looked back to Manny, his
expression unchanged. Mata, Alexander du Bois. I'm a friend of Sasha's,
(07:30):
he glanced back at her with a wink that curdled
her stomach. And I'm also in charge of recruitment for
the Storming Battalion. Never heard of it, Emmanuel said in
a gruff, clipped tone. Sasha realized she was shaking a little.
Alexander's lips curled up into an even more ghoulish variant
of his already unsettling smile. He replied, there's a reason
(07:51):
for that, Mada Sanchez. The Storming Battalion plays a key
role in our success on the battlefield. They've been central
in every one of our victory. We don't publicize their
work for various reasons, but I assure you it's a
distinct honor to be recruited by me. That's actually why
I'm here, Emmanuel. We've chosen you. By now, it felt
(08:14):
like the pit of Sasha's stomach was boiling. Something terrible
was clearly happening, even Emmanual seemed to realize that his
face had gone pale. His pupils were the size of
dinner plates. I ah, thank you for the honor, but
I'm happy with my unit. I feel that's where the
Lord needs me. My friend Aaron Alexander put a hand up,
(08:35):
flat palm facing Emmanual. Your comrade will be taken care of,
and we'll be the judges of where the Lord needs you.
Trust me, We've got a lot more experience interpreting his
will than you do. There's a reason the cross flies
over this entire city. Emmanuel half stood in his chair.
It was a sudden gesture, and a faintly aggressive one.
(08:57):
Sasha noticed his hands were bawled up into fists. His
eyes darted left and right. He seemed to be looking
over the heads of Alexander and his men. Alexander tensed.
Both the men put hands over their side arms, but
Emmanuel didn't take any further action. After a few turns
of his head, he stopped looking, relaxed his hands, and
sat back down. Okay, he said, I get the feeling
(09:20):
you want me to go with you now. Alexander smiled.
It was a vicious, oily thing, and it confirmed in
Sasha's heart that he had something terrible planned. Yes, that's
exactly what I want. He cocked his head up and
pursed his lips in an exaggerated gesture of consideration. Well, actually,
I want you to go with these men. I need
(09:41):
to stay here and have a wood with Sasha. Emmanuel
looked into her eyes. He was scared clearly, but he
kept his voice steady when he spoke, Sasha, I've got
to go do my duty find errand for me. Will
you tell him I am wish him the best, and
I hope to see him soon. He put definite emphasis
(10:02):
on that last word, and then he gave Sasha a
very deliberate nod before he stood and stepped towards Alexander's men.
Take him to the factory for his intake process, and
I'll be along. Showtly, Alexander said. He put a hand
on Emmanuel's forearm as the young man passed by, and said,
you should give a prayer of thanks, brother, God has
(10:23):
blessed you with a great honor. Emmanuel smile was as
false as Alexander's God bless you, Martyr du Bois. I'll
pray that you and all your men grow closer to
our lord. Was that a threat, she wondered, before deciding,
of course it was. In a more normal situation, Sasha
would have molled that over It certainly was not the
(10:43):
sort of comment she'd have expected from a true martyr,
But just then she was far too consumed with terror,
both for Immanuel and for herself. Alexander's guards led Manny away,
and Alexander took his place at the table. He took
a long sip from Emmanuel's cooling coffee and smiled his
snake smile again. I must say, Sasha, I thought you
(11:04):
had better taste than that. For the first time in
her life, Sasha found herself trying to stare daggers at someone.
Oh if only I could shoot knives out of my eyes,
she thought, as she imagined one striking Alexander in the
forehead with enough force to burst out the back of
his skull. Is that something chromed people can do, she wondered,
and decided she'd ask Marigold if she had forgot another
(11:26):
chance to talk to the woman. Hey, he snapped his
fingers in front of her eyes, and she hated him
a little more. She was sort of surprised to learn
that was possible. Look, I know coming here can be disorienting.
I know this is a lot to get used to.
But him a fucking' it's people like him who filled
this continent with them mongrel spawn and tore American civilization
(11:48):
to splint us. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ,
she said. We are all the fruit fruit of the
same tree. Yeah, I know, I've met Pastor Mike. I
know God made us all, and also know he made
some of us better than others. There's a reason civilization
reached its peak under white Man, and there's a reason
it crumbled once. We let them take the reins for
(12:10):
a while, it's not worth arguing with him, she told herself.
So Sasha decided to ask a blunt question. What's going
to happen to Emmanuel? Alexander smiled, Exactly what I said
was going to happen to him. He's goin to the
factory for a trainin' and then he'll participate in the
invasion of Waco as part of the Storming Battalion. And
(12:33):
what is that? In a way, it's the luckiest unit
in the Heavenly Kingdom's whole military. They are the first
ones in guaranteed glory. He took another long, slow sip
from Mannie's coffee, his eyes bored into her all the while,
and guaranteed modydom. Sasha felt a little pride for not crying.
(12:54):
Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes. Praise be
to God, she choked out, followed by I still have
duties tonight at the house. May I go? Alexander sneered
at that, and then he waved his hand in a
gesture that was surely meant to be casual and dismissive.
It looked calculated, though, like it was important to him
that she feels like this didn't matter to him. For
(13:17):
some reason, that observation made Sasha feel a little stronger.
Go on. Then he said, we'll talk tomorrow. Maybe we'll
do more than talk. Maybe not. She stood up, still
fighting back tears, and left the cafe without a response.
(13:39):
Sasha wanted to go to someone, anyone, in the wake
of all this. There's nothing to do. The smarter, colder
part of her brain, the part that always sounded like
her mother, warned her, anything you say will only make
it worse. She knew that was true. Even Helen couldn't
do anything for Emmanual. Now she'd made it very clear
that military matters took precedence over everything else in the
(14:00):
Heavenly Kingdom. It made sense, and yet shouldn't right and
wrong be what matter most here? She wasn't even sure
what either of those words meant anymore? Was this really
what God wanted? Was this how a society based on
his laws operated? Sasha told herself over and over again
that she'd made the right decision, that the Kingdom wasn't perfect,
(14:21):
but it was the best of all the other options.
That voice grew quieter and less convincing as she walked
through the doors at the House of Miriam and noticed
another missing person. Where's Suzanne, she asked Helen, after scanning
the dining room for her friend. The older woman smiled,
but it wasn't the warm look Sasha had come to expect.
Helen looked strained, tired, perhaps even a little ill. Suzanne
(14:46):
met her husband today, Sasha narrowed her eyes and fought
down an immediate surge of rage. She met him or
did he see her and claim her? Like Anne suitor?
Helen did not like that. She almost growled her neck
to words. Be very careful with what you insinuate, Miss Sasha.
I know this isn't what any of you dreamed of,
but you did come here to help further the kingdom.
(15:08):
This is how that looks Sasha knew in that moment
that there was nothing else she could say to Helen.
What would be the point? So she nodded meekly, and
she apologized, and then she ate her dinner like a
robot and cleaned up for bed. Throughout all that, Marigold's
words rang louder in her memory. You got suckered into
a fucking nightmare. It's time to wake up. It's time
(15:29):
to wake ups, time to wake up. Time. Sasha went
to bed around nine. She'd had a long and exhausting day.
Tomorrow was sure to be more of the same, but
she couldn't sleep. Now that she was safely in bed,
hidden from the world, the tears refused to stay hidden
behind her eyes. It was all Sasha could do to
avoid audible sobs. She lay awake for an hour, maybe more,
(15:50):
until she heard a thwack followed by a thump. She
opened her eyes and rolled over to face the door,
and the time it took to complete that motion she
heard the were whoosh open and then a series of
thumps so rapid they sounded like one long drum roll.
Sasha felt a rush of air, and then since the
presence of a new person. The instant before she completed
her role, she looked up to see a man at
(16:12):
the side of her bed. He was big, broad, and
clad in a torn and bloodied Martyrs uniform. He had
a heavy metal pipe in his hand. Sasha rose her
hands up in an instinctive gesture of self defense. The
moment before she saw the holking man's face and realized
who he was, Aaron. The man blinked. He looked confused
for a moment, and then he laughed, all right, Yes,
(16:34):
saw my name, Han, you can call me Roland. What
do you what's happening? Are we under attack? Yes, porta
by me. I knocked out the old lady. He gestured
his head back towards the other girls sleeping in their beds.
I knocked them all out too, just minor concussions, but
they're out cold. I am very confused, Sasha said, in
(16:54):
a flat voice, and very frightened. You're not frightened. She
was rise to realize that he was right. Sasha knew
she should have been scared, but her heart rate didn't elevate,
she didn't start to sweat. She did feel confused, but
she also felt calm. Maybe I've just been so scared
the last few days my body can't handle anymore of it.
(17:15):
Maybe I've reached the limit of my capacity for fear.
I guess you're right, she said, I should be afraid.
This is also She trailed off, grasping for words. Yeah,
it's fucked, Roland said, and then he pulled up a
canteen that had been hanging from his shoulder and took
a deep poll. The scent of alcohol wafted over to her.
You want some, he asked. I made it in my
(17:36):
guts filled a canteen as I finished up at the base. Wait,
Sasha said, what happened at the base? Roland gave another
shrug and took another pull. The boss guys told me
Manny had been reassigned to some sort of I don't know,
suicide battalion. This pissed me off, so I broke exactly
half of their bones. Sasha could hear sirens now often
(17:57):
the distance. It sounded like there were rather a lot
of them. She imagined this was connected to whatever Roland
had done. I'm going to guess you and Emmanual aren't
really martyrs, are you, he chuckled. I mean maybe some days, sister.
Just now, I don't say any causes worth dying for,
but I get your meaning. And no, I don't give
a shit about your heavenly kingdom. Man he actively hates it.
(18:20):
We're spies, or we were spies. Now he's a captive
and I'm a terrorist again. Oh, she said, And then
I think I would like a drink. He handed her
the canteen, and she took a generous gulp. Sasha had
only tried alcohol once before. She'd been thirteen, not yet
a Christian, and at a party she'd been far too
(18:40):
young to attend. She remembered the sensation of gentle warmth
spreading down her throat, and the sense of elation and
well being that had followed. She'd taken a few more SIPs,
which had made the world far too spinny for her comfort.
She'd vomited not long after, but she figured if there
was ever a time to try alcohol again, it's now.
The drink easted like beer, but it burned like a
(19:01):
shot of hard liquor. Sasha passed the canteen back. She
felt like taking more would be a bad idea. All right, then,
Roland said, I'm gonna make a few guesses. I guess
one is that you're a little less than enthusiastic about
the heavenly Kingdom now that you've seen it up close.
Guests too is that you're looking for a way out.
And Guests three is that you know something about where
(19:22):
my little buddy went. Huh, Immanuel, Manny, you know where
he is? I don't, she started. I'll bet you do.
Even if you don't know, you do. I know you
were there when he was taken. I could smell it
in the street. Smell it. He sighed, and needed the
bridge of his nose. This is the time where you
explain things. The time where I explained things comes later,
(19:44):
or maybe never. He lifted up the pipe in his
hand so she could see how bloody and dnted it was.
I have the pipe. Whoever's got the pipe doesn't have
to explain shit. Sasha couldn't argue with his logic, and
she did want to see emmanual, free and safe. Look,
she said, this, this boy, I know, Alexander. He found
us at the cafe. We were just sitting down to coffee.
(20:06):
He had two men with him, and he said, Emmanuel
had been selected for the Storming Battalion. Do you have
any idea where they took him? The kids sent trail
grows cold about a mile from here. Sasha racked her brain.
Of course, she didn't know where the Heavenly Kingdom did
this sort of training, but Alexander's said something about the factory,
and at that Roland's eyes lit up. He turned around
(20:29):
as if to leave. I know where he is. Then
he looked back and down to Sasha and said, moment
of truth time, Darlin, you want to stay here in
this ship pile Kingdom? Or He jerked his thumb to
the door. Do you want me to break you out?
And I'll make offers like that often, so take it
as a compliment. This time. It didn't take long for
Sasha to make up her mind. Yes, she said, I'd
(20:52):
like to go with you. Hey, I'm Robert Evans. I
hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the
chapters to come. You can find the free e pub
of every chapter and eventually the whole book at a
t r book dot com, complete with illustrations if you
want to support me in writing the sequel, you can
crowdfund me at after the Revolution the Sequel at go
(21:14):
fund Me. Just type and go fund me after the
Revolution the Sequel Um. I'd like my books to always
be free, so I'm just going to try to crowdfund
the next one and see how that works. So After
the Revolution the Sequel on go fund Me. You can
also find the community of fans of this book online
at our slash after the Revolution on Reddit. So after
(21:36):
the Revolution the Sequel on go fund me and are
slash after the Revolution on Reddit. A t r book
dot com for the whole book. Thanks
Chapter eighteen, Sasha. Sasha didn't feel safe out on the
street after Anne's abduction. The next day, she'd volunteered for
four extra hours of duty in the emergency ward. She
changed bandages and administered antibiotic salves and delivered food to
wounded soldiers until her eyes started to glaze over and
doctor Brandt ordered her home. She'd barely had the energy
(00:24):
to eat that night, but by the time her driver
dropped her off at the House of Miriam, it was
dark and there'd been no one waiting for her. That
strategy hadn't worked. The day after that, doctor Brandt had
even tried to send her home early. Sasha had talked
him out of it, but not out of sending her
back downtown at the normal time. She was sure her
driver must have noticed how anxious she was. By the
(00:46):
time they reached the main drag, she was drenched in
sweat her hands were shaking. She asked him to drop
her off a half block down from the normal spot
so she could enter the square from the left side
and get a good look at who was hanging out
near the House of Miriam. Alexander had been there, of course,
sitting out in front of a building two doors down
from the house, along with one of his friends. Avoiding
(01:07):
them had brought her to the Cafe Clement, and then
something she could only assume was God's providence had bumped
her into a manual. He was sweet and fun to
talk to, and it was actually refreshing to have a
conversation with some one who didn't constantly quote scripture or
past her mike. She was surprised at herself for feeling
that way. A few weeks ago, she'd have given anything
to have an open conversation about her beliefs, but now
(01:30):
that she was deep within the Kingdom, it was nice
to talk about normal things with a normal boy. The
next day had brought her back to the hospital, which
was filled with wounded soldiers from an air strike on
a troop transport. Sasha had spent nine hours without a
break helping doctor Brandt cut clothing off of horribly burned
young men. She'd applied slick, gummy burned dressings and changed
(01:51):
ivy drips of pain killers. The day was long, bloody,
and brutal. Four men died in front of her eyes,
and there was no time to really think about it.
She knew that she should have been more horrified at
what she was seeing. But the exposed organs and burnt,
shriveled limbs didn't feel like parts of people. Even the
screams felt more like rhode hazards or bad weather than
(02:12):
damaged pieces of human beings. They were obstacles to be
dealt with. She and doctor Brandt dealt with them well.
A still small voice in the back of her mind
recoiled in horror at the sheer volume of human misery
she saw that day, But that voice was quieter than
it had been on other days, and it grew quieter
as the day went on and the death toll mounted.
Sasha had read about post traumatic stress disorder back in school.
(02:35):
She understood the mechanics of it. The people tended to
cope with terrifying situations by suppressing their fear. But this
didn't feel like that. It felt like she was just
doing her job, and she enjoyed her job. Before she
knew it, ten hours had gone by, and doctor Brandt
demanded she find a ride back to the House of
Miriam and get some rest. That was the first time
(02:56):
in the entire day when Sasha felt truly scared. It
started in her chest, her heart fluttered faster and faster,
until the flutter turned to a pounding so loud it
felt like someone was smashing a hammer on the inner
walls of her cranium. She pressed her back hard into
the seat of the jeep and hoped her growing panic
wasn't obvious to the driver. He dropped her off on
the other side of the square again. She didn't see
(03:19):
Alexander or his comrades near the House of Miriam this time,
but she knew that didn't mean they weren't watching the place.
She had plans to meet Emmanual again anyway. Sasha half
expected him to have moved on since she'd been so late,
but he was there, standing out in front of the
Cafe Clement when she arrived. I'm sorry, I'm so late,
she said. He shrugged in response, I just got here myself.
(03:40):
They dismissed us late. We had a special lecture before
dinner about a His face grew red and he trailed
off about what she poked. Maybe let's just sit down first, huh.
So they found a seat and ordered their coffee. Manny
tried to change the subject by asking Sasha about her day,
but she was curious about his reaction and would not
(04:01):
be dissuaded. I'll tell you all about my day if
you tell me about that lecture and why just thinking
about it made your face go red. He grew redder
and stared down into his coffee. Pastor came over to
lecture us about our duty and helping the heavenly kingdom grow.
You know our duty, Emmanual gave her a significant look.
(04:21):
She gathered his meaning, and then she blushed too. That's
uh why they bust us out here every day, he continued.
It's so we can get to know the local women
and then get to know them in the biblical sense.
She laughed in spite of herself. I think that was
the first off color joke I've heard in weeks. It
felt good and risque. It was actually the same sort
(04:43):
of thrill she'd gotten back home when she'd sneakily read
issues of Revelator and browsed the media feeds of various
martyrs brigades. You know, Emmanual, she said, You're not quite
like anyone else I've met here. It's nice to meet
someone who wasn't afraid to joke. I didn't think i'd
missed that. He was quiet for a little while Manny
stirred his coffee awkwardly cast his eyes down, he went paler,
(05:07):
you seem different too, I dunno this place. Maybe it's
not exactly what we thought it would be. She should
have gotten angry at that. It was the kind of
common that could have gotten a manual into a lot
of trouble. Why would he say that to me, she wondered?
And why am I okay with all this? Maybe it
was Marigold rubbing off on her. Maybe it was just
gradual disillusionment, the climax of a process that had started
(05:30):
with Alexander's betrayal. But the Heavenly Kingdom no longer felt
magical or even all that wholly. It's complicated here, she
finally said. I mean, before I came here, I knew
it couldn't be perfect no places, but yes, it's not
what I'd hoped to find exactly. Sasha felt a spike
of panic as soon as the words left her mouth.
(05:51):
You barely know this man, Sasha. His whole job might
be ferrying out potential disloyalty. She coughed and tried to
walk her admission back a little. It's still better than
the st f or any of the other Heathen states,
I have to keep telling myself that what's important is
what we're fighting for, not the imperfections we have to
live with. In this moment, hum he gave an on
(06:12):
committal grunt that surprised her. She hadn't expected anything specific exactly,
but that surprised her. He started to say something else,
then his eyes went wide. Who he started to say?
Sasha heard boot falls. She felt the presence of several
tall men behind her. The heavy, familiar scent of Alexander's
cologne filled her nostrils. Madyr Emmanuel Sanchez, Miss Sasha, may
(06:43):
the blessings of the lawd be with you and also
with you, Sascha replied by rote. Emmanuel chimed in a
second or two later. He sounded a bit awkward, like
he wasn't exactly sure which words to use. Alexander pulled
up a chair and set it against the right side
of the table. He sat down, placing himself between them.
He rested one arm on the table, but his left
(07:04):
arm hung directly over his side arm. He looked at Emmanuel, smiled,
and then looked at Sasha. She felt a wave of
nausea grabbed her by the guts and tug. His lips
curled up, revealing his straight white teeth. Excuse me, Manny said,
but who are you? Alexander looked back to Manny, his
expression unchanged. Mata, Alexander du Bois. I'm a friend of Sasha's,
(07:30):
he glanced back at her with a wink that curdled
her stomach. And I'm also in charge of recruitment for
the Storming Battalion. Never heard of it, Emmanuel said in
a gruff, clipped tone. Sasha realized she was shaking a little.
Alexander's lips curled up into an even more ghoulish variant
of his already unsettling smile. He replied, there's a reason
(07:51):
for that, Mada Sanchez. The Storming Battalion plays a key
role in our success on the battlefield. They've been central
in every one of our victory. We don't publicize their
work for various reasons, but I assure you it's a
distinct honor to be recruited by me. That's actually why
I'm here, Emmanuel. We've chosen you. By now, it felt
(08:14):
like the pit of Sasha's stomach was boiling. Something terrible
was clearly happening, even Emmanual seemed to realize that his
face had gone pale. His pupils were the size of
dinner plates. I ah, thank you for the honor, but
I'm happy with my unit. I feel that's where the
Lord needs me. My friend Aaron Alexander put a hand up,
(08:35):
flat palm facing Emmanual. Your comrade will be taken care of,
and we'll be the judges of where the Lord needs you.
Trust me, We've got a lot more experience interpreting his
will than you do. There's a reason the cross flies
over this entire city. Emmanuel half stood in his chair.
It was a sudden gesture, and a faintly aggressive one.
(08:57):
Sasha noticed his hands were bawled up into fists. His
eyes darted left and right. He seemed to be looking
over the heads of Alexander and his men. Alexander tensed.
Both the men put hands over their side arms, but
Emmanuel didn't take any further action. After a few turns
of his head, he stopped looking, relaxed his hands, and
sat back down. Okay, he said, I get the feeling
(09:20):
you want me to go with you now. Alexander smiled.
It was a vicious, oily thing, and it confirmed in
Sasha's heart that he had something terrible planned. Yes, that's
exactly what I want. He cocked his head up and
pursed his lips in an exaggerated gesture of consideration. Well, actually,
I want you to go with these men. I need
(09:41):
to stay here and have a wood with Sasha. Emmanuel
looked into her eyes. He was scared clearly, but he
kept his voice steady when he spoke, Sasha, I've got
to go do my duty find errand for me. Will
you tell him I am wish him the best, and
I hope to see him soon. He put definite emphasis
(10:02):
on that last word, and then he gave Sasha a
very deliberate nod before he stood and stepped towards Alexander's men.
Take him to the factory for his intake process, and
I'll be along. Showtly, Alexander said. He put a hand
on Emmanuel's forearm as the young man passed by, and said,
you should give a prayer of thanks, brother, God has
(10:23):
blessed you with a great honor. Emmanuel smile was as
false as Alexander's God bless you, Martyr du Bois. I'll
pray that you and all your men grow closer to
our lord. Was that a threat, she wondered, before deciding,
of course it was. In a more normal situation, Sasha
would have molled that over It certainly was not the
(10:43):
sort of comment she'd have expected from a true martyr,
But just then she was far too consumed with terror,
both for Immanuel and for herself. Alexander's guards led Manny away,
and Alexander took his place at the table. He took
a long sip from Emmanuel's cooling coffee and smiled his
snake smile again. I must say, Sasha, I thought you
(11:04):
had better taste than that. For the first time in
her life, Sasha found herself trying to stare daggers at someone.
Oh if only I could shoot knives out of my eyes,
she thought, as she imagined one striking Alexander in the
forehead with enough force to burst out the back of
his skull. Is that something chromed people can do, she wondered,
and decided she'd ask Marigold if she had forgot another
(11:26):
chance to talk to the woman. Hey, he snapped his
fingers in front of her eyes, and she hated him
a little more. She was sort of surprised to learn
that was possible. Look, I know coming here can be disorienting.
I know this is a lot to get used to.
But him a fucking' it's people like him who filled
this continent with them mongrel spawn and tore American civilization
(11:48):
to splint us. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ,
she said. We are all the fruit fruit of the
same tree. Yeah, I know, I've met Pastor Mike. I
know God made us all, and also know he made
some of us better than others. There's a reason civilization
reached its peak under white Man, and there's a reason
it crumbled once. We let them take the reins for
(12:10):
a while, it's not worth arguing with him, she told herself.
So Sasha decided to ask a blunt question. What's going
to happen to Emmanuel? Alexander smiled, Exactly what I said
was going to happen to him. He's goin to the
factory for a trainin' and then he'll participate in the
invasion of Waco as part of the Storming Battalion. And
(12:33):
what is that? In a way, it's the luckiest unit
in the Heavenly Kingdom's whole military. They are the first
ones in guaranteed glory. He took another long, slow sip
from Mannie's coffee, his eyes bored into her all the while,
and guaranteed modydom. Sasha felt a little pride for not crying.
(12:54):
Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes. Praise be
to God, she choked out, followed by I still have
duties tonight at the house. May I go? Alexander sneered
at that, and then he waved his hand in a
gesture that was surely meant to be casual and dismissive.
It looked calculated, though, like it was important to him
that she feels like this didn't matter to him. For
(13:17):
some reason, that observation made Sasha feel a little stronger.
Go on. Then he said, we'll talk tomorrow. Maybe we'll
do more than talk. Maybe not. She stood up, still
fighting back tears, and left the cafe without a response.
(13:39):
Sasha wanted to go to someone, anyone, in the wake
of all this. There's nothing to do. The smarter, colder
part of her brain, the part that always sounded like
her mother, warned her, anything you say will only make
it worse. She knew that was true. Even Helen couldn't
do anything for Emmanual. Now she'd made it very clear
that military matters took precedence over everything else in the
(14:00):
Heavenly Kingdom. It made sense, and yet shouldn't right and
wrong be what matter most here? She wasn't even sure
what either of those words meant anymore? Was this really
what God wanted? Was this how a society based on
his laws operated? Sasha told herself over and over again
that she'd made the right decision, that the Kingdom wasn't perfect,
(14:21):
but it was the best of all the other options.
That voice grew quieter and less convincing as she walked
through the doors at the House of Miriam and noticed
another missing person. Where's Suzanne, she asked Helen, after scanning
the dining room for her friend. The older woman smiled,
but it wasn't the warm look Sasha had come to expect.
Helen looked strained, tired, perhaps even a little ill. Suzanne
(14:46):
met her husband today, Sasha narrowed her eyes and fought
down an immediate surge of rage. She met him or
did he see her and claim her? Like Anne suitor?
Helen did not like that. She almost growled her neck
to words. Be very careful with what you insinuate, Miss Sasha.
I know this isn't what any of you dreamed of,
but you did come here to help further the kingdom.
(15:08):
This is how that looks Sasha knew in that moment
that there was nothing else she could say to Helen.
What would be the point? So she nodded meekly, and
she apologized, and then she ate her dinner like a
robot and cleaned up for bed. Throughout all that, Marigold's
words rang louder in her memory. You got suckered into
a fucking nightmare. It's time to wake up. It's time
(15:29):
to wake ups, time to wake up. Time. Sasha went
to bed around nine. She'd had a long and exhausting day.
Tomorrow was sure to be more of the same, but
she couldn't sleep. Now that she was safely in bed,
hidden from the world, the tears refused to stay hidden
behind her eyes. It was all Sasha could do to
avoid audible sobs. She lay awake for an hour, maybe more,
(15:50):
until she heard a thwack followed by a thump. She
opened her eyes and rolled over to face the door,
and the time it took to complete that motion she
heard the were whoosh open and then a series of
thumps so rapid they sounded like one long drum roll.
Sasha felt a rush of air, and then since the
presence of a new person. The instant before she completed
her role, she looked up to see a man at
(16:12):
the side of her bed. He was big, broad, and
clad in a torn and bloodied Martyrs uniform. He had
a heavy metal pipe in his hand. Sasha rose her
hands up in an instinctive gesture of self defense. The
moment before she saw the holking man's face and realized
who he was, Aaron. The man blinked. He looked confused
for a moment, and then he laughed, all right, Yes,
(16:34):
saw my name, Han, you can call me Roland. What
do you what's happening? Are we under attack? Yes, porta
by me. I knocked out the old lady. He gestured
his head back towards the other girls sleeping in their beds.
I knocked them all out too, just minor concussions, but
they're out cold. I am very confused, Sasha said, in
(16:54):
a flat voice, and very frightened. You're not frightened. She
was rise to realize that he was right. Sasha knew
she should have been scared, but her heart rate didn't elevate,
she didn't start to sweat. She did feel confused, but
she also felt calm. Maybe I've just been so scared
the last few days my body can't handle anymore of it.
(17:15):
Maybe I've reached the limit of my capacity for fear.
I guess you're right, she said, I should be afraid.
This is also She trailed off, grasping for words. Yeah,
it's fucked, Roland said, and then he pulled up a
canteen that had been hanging from his shoulder and took
a deep poll. The scent of alcohol wafted over to her.
You want some, he asked. I made it in my
(17:36):
guts filled a canteen as I finished up at the base. Wait,
Sasha said, what happened at the base? Roland gave another
shrug and took another pull. The boss guys told me
Manny had been reassigned to some sort of I don't know,
suicide battalion. This pissed me off, so I broke exactly
half of their bones. Sasha could hear sirens now often
(17:57):
the distance. It sounded like there were rather a lot
of them. She imagined this was connected to whatever Roland
had done. I'm going to guess you and Emmanual aren't
really martyrs, are you, he chuckled. I mean maybe some days, sister.
Just now, I don't say any causes worth dying for,
but I get your meaning. And no, I don't give
a shit about your heavenly kingdom. Man he actively hates it.
(18:20):
We're spies, or we were spies. Now he's a captive
and I'm a terrorist again. Oh, she said, And then
I think I would like a drink. He handed her
the canteen, and she took a generous gulp. Sasha had
only tried alcohol once before. She'd been thirteen, not yet
a Christian, and at a party she'd been far too
(18:40):
young to attend. She remembered the sensation of gentle warmth
spreading down her throat, and the sense of elation and
well being that had followed. She'd taken a few more SIPs,
which had made the world far too spinny for her comfort.
She'd vomited not long after, but she figured if there
was ever a time to try alcohol again, it's now.
The drink easted like beer, but it burned like a
(19:01):
shot of hard liquor. Sasha passed the canteen back. She
felt like taking more would be a bad idea. All right, then,
Roland said, I'm gonna make a few guesses. I guess
one is that you're a little less than enthusiastic about
the heavenly Kingdom now that you've seen it up close.
Guests too is that you're looking for a way out.
And Guests three is that you know something about where
(19:22):
my little buddy went. Huh, Immanuel, Manny, you know where
he is? I don't, she started. I'll bet you do.
Even if you don't know, you do. I know you
were there when he was taken. I could smell it
in the street. Smell it. He sighed, and needed the
bridge of his nose. This is the time where you
explain things. The time where I explained things comes later,
(19:44):
or maybe never. He lifted up the pipe in his
hand so she could see how bloody and dnted it was.
I have the pipe. Whoever's got the pipe doesn't have
to explain shit. Sasha couldn't argue with his logic, and
she did want to see emmanual, free and safe. Look,
she said, this, this boy, I know, Alexander. He found
us at the cafe. We were just sitting down to coffee.
(20:06):
He had two men with him, and he said, Emmanuel
had been selected for the Storming Battalion. Do you have
any idea where they took him? The kids sent trail
grows cold about a mile from here. Sasha racked her brain.
Of course, she didn't know where the Heavenly Kingdom did
this sort of training, but Alexander's said something about the factory,
and at that Roland's eyes lit up. He turned around
(20:29):
as if to leave. I know where he is. Then
he looked back and down to Sasha and said, moment
of truth time, Darlin, you want to stay here in
this ship pile Kingdom? Or He jerked his thumb to
the door. Do you want me to break you out?
And I'll make offers like that often, so take it
as a compliment. This time. It didn't take long for
Sasha to make up her mind. Yes, she said, I'd
(20:52):
like to go with you. Hey, I'm Robert Evans. I
hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the
chapters to come. You can find the free e pub
of every chapter and eventually the whole book at a
t r book dot com, complete with illustrations if you
want to support me in writing the sequel, you can
crowdfund me at after the Revolution the Sequel at go
(21:14):
fund Me. Just type and go fund me after the
Revolution the Sequel Um. I'd like my books to always
be free, so I'm just going to try to crowdfund
the next one and see how that works. So After
the Revolution the Sequel on go fund Me. You can
also find the community of fans of this book online
at our slash after the Revolution on Reddit. So after
(21:36):
the Revolution the Sequel on go fund me and are
slash after the Revolution on Reddit. A t r book
dot com for the whole book. Thanks
Host
Robert Evans
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