Chapter Sixteen

Manny and Roland begin their time as undercover soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Chapter sixteen. Manny. The Barracks had been a high school,
once built to serve several thousand of the plain O
area's wealthy at students. The dozen huge gray buildings were
centered around an enormous courtyard that included a practice football field,
several tennis courts, and a running track. The compound was
boxed in by a high concrete wall topped in razor wire.

(00:24):
What had been built to defend the scions of wealth
and Privilege from their jealous piers also made the former
school an ideal training ground for the kingdoms soldiers. Manny
could see hundreds of young men just within the courtyard.
They ran laps or charged through a makeshift obstacle course
that had been assembled over the old football field. Manny's
head throbbed just watching them. Ipe. We don't have to

(00:46):
do too much of that ship, he thought, as he
scratched the bandage over his severed deck, At least not today.
Dozens of men sat in small groups around the courtyard,
reading together from books or cooling down from workouts and
sweat drenched underclothes, Manny could hear the sharp crack of
rifle fire from a shooting range near by. The whole
place buzzed with a sort of busy, nervous energy that

(01:07):
might have been contagious if not for the ugly stairs.
Manny attracted. You took the wrong skin to wear, Roland
muttered at him as a troop of pale, young infantrymen
clumped past them. Manny couldn't help but notice that he
seemed to be the only person on the training field
who wasn't lily white. This might be a problem, he said.
Roland nodded in response. He spat at the ground and muttered,

(01:29):
should I ask skullfucker Mike to sew you into some
new skin before we left? Manny frowned. I'm almost certain
that's not how martyrs. A rough voice cried out from
behind them. Turn round, boys, let me see a rise.
Manny stopped on instinct. He stiff at his back and
turned around. Roland did the same thing, but with a
heavy sigh and a roll at his eyes. The shout

(01:51):
had come from a tall, square jawed man with hair
that had gone a majestic shade of silver gray. He
wore a black uniform shirt with brass cross pins in
the epple uts, black cargo pants, and a big black
handgun slung low on his left hip. His name tag
identified him as Ditmar. Manny didn't know enough about the
martyrs brigades to tell the man's rank. Roland turned as

(02:12):
Ditmar closed the distance between them. He stopped about a
foot in from them, looked Roland up and down, and
then turned to Manny. The fixer forced himself to meet
the grizzled martyr's gaze. Manny wasn't sure how to look
like a fanatical Christian soldier. There was no way to
fake the manic glint of true commitment, so he chose
a different tack. He thought about Major Clark, the defiant

(02:33):
set of his jaw and the promise of violence frozen
into the ice of his blue eyes. D Shaun Clark
was not a fanatic, but he was a warrior. Many
knew he might be able to fake that, so he
screwed up his face into his best imitation and hoped
it would pass muster well. The silver haired old soldier
growled and narrowed his eyes, but then his face broke
out into a grin. His tone lifted up an octave.

(02:56):
By God, he said, it's good to have you boys here.
He slapped a hand on both Manny and roland shoulders
and pulled them into an embrace. Your souls are safe now,
my boys. Thank God for your warrior hearts. Now. He
pulled back and straightened up. I'm Martyr Ditmar. Where are
you bound for intake? Manny said, with more confidence than

(03:16):
he felt. We just arrived today. He glanced down at
his papers for a moment and then said, this says
we're Infantry Reserve Division. Martyr Ditmar seemed surprised, really, he asked,
I'd have expected them to put you at least he
nodded at Manny and the storming battalion. The storming battalion. Yes,
The elder martyr nodded, you've got the right complexion for it.

(03:40):
That's got to be a bad sign. Manny thought, don't
press the question too much now, you may not want
the answer. Instead, he put a hand on Roland's shoulder.
Wherever we go, I gotta stay with Aaron. He's strong,
but he took a few hits to the head too many.
I help him get around. The martyr gave a smile
that seemed genuine. Well, then he said, you want to
get your butts down to cadet processing it's a hundred

(04:02):
meters down that away. He clapped them both on the shoulders.
It's good to see you here. Smile boys, your heroes
now warriors in Christ. Go forth, God bless you, Martyr
Manny said. Roland followed up with his best attempt at
honest enthusiasm. Yea God, he said, in a two wide smile.
We should go, Manny said quickly. I don't want to
terry on the Lord's time. That's the spirit. Martyr Ditmar replied,

(04:26):
I'll see you both on the training field. They stomped
off towards the Cadet process in building, which until recently
had been the high school's administrative building. There were posters
for school dances and after school clubs on the walls.
It looked like a student body election had been under
way when the Heavenly Kingdom captured this place. Manny and
Rowland qued up behind a half dozen other confused looking

(04:46):
young men and waited for their turn at the processing desk.
The intake process lasted around an hour. They took his
name as date of birth and his measurements, and then
Manny helped Aaron answer the same questions. It would have
been triflingly easy for anyone with a deck and a
good connection to find evidence of Manny's career as a
war zone fixer, but the martyr handling their information wrote

(05:06):
things down on actual paper. Manny got the distinct impression
that many of the martyrs had disabled their decks. He
also knew from experience that data speeds tended to be
pretty ship this close to the fighting. Someone will check eventually,
he warned himself. You'd better be fast about this whole business.
Roland stayed on his best behavior through the whole process,
although he grew twitch eer and twitch eer as the

(05:28):
minutes wore on. Manny wasn't sure if the chromed man
was allergic to bureaucracy or just frustrated at having sobered up.
Once they were done with the first stage of the
intake process, they were ushered over to another room filled
with folded stacks of clothing and dins with the scent
of mothballs. They were issued uniforms and then bundled off
to a locker room to change. Manny was somewhat nervous
about stripping down and changing in front of Roland, a dude.

(05:50):
He barely knew if the post human felt the same nervousness,
he didn't show it. Roland pulled off his clothes in
a couple of seconds, revealing a body that was tight
with wiry muscle and covered in thick surgical scars. Roland
started to pull on his beaty you pants and noticed
Manny hadn't yet started to strip. What's up, Roland asked,
you smell nervous? Manny shrugged. I guess I'm a little prude.

(06:13):
Still must be the Catholic in me. Don't let them
hear that. Roland knifed those fucker's all hang you with
your rosary beads. He pulled the pants up and button them.
Then he paused again and looked back at Manny. You ah,
you still Catholic? He asked. Manny shook his head. No,
I don't believe, but my family does. Ah. Roland nodded,

(06:33):
you fake belief. Well that's a talent. It's not a talent,
Manny said, it's a survival skill. Grow up in Texas
and you either learned to fake what you need to
fake where you learn to fight. Someone knocked on the door.
You ready yet, a voice called out to them. Almost
Manny responded, and then he started to strip his clothing off.
A few minutes and a change of clothes later, they

(06:54):
arrived on the field where their training unit, twenty four
sweat drenched young men, were doing push ups. Manny was
surprise to see that these martyrs at least weren't all white.
There was one black man right in the middle of
the group. It took Manny a second to recognize that
the instructor drilling them was Ditmar, the man they'd met
on their way to the base. He broke into a
broad smile when he saw them. God's will is truly magnificent,

(07:15):
is it not? And then he nodded down to the ground.
I'll let and join us, lads. Let's see what you've got.
Manny and Roland dropped down and joined the unit in
another set of push ups. If Roland had any trouble
at all with the workout regimen, he didn't show it.
The chrombed man barely sweated, and Manny had a feeling
that his sweat was more for show than the result
of an actual biological process. Even with the show, it

(07:35):
was obvious to every one that Roland was not having
any trouble with the exercises. God's blessed us with a
new Sampson, Ditmar said a hundred or so push ups.
In the rest of the men, Manny included, had collapsed
from the exertion, but Roland just kept going for a while.
They all sat there, huffing and exhausted and watching him go.
Ditmar smiled and shook his head a little odd at

(07:56):
the sight. Finally, he waved for Roland to stop. You've
made point, son, and we're all blessed to have you
here with us. Now get up, all of you and
sit around me. Many stood, shook the soreness from his arms,
and moved to take a seat in the semicircle of
young martyrs. Once they were all properly positioned, Ditmar squatted
down and cast his eyes around the group, settling on

(08:16):
each of them in turn. I don't know how you
all got here, he said, in a quiet, somber voice,
but I know what brought each of you here, the
spirit of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. He cleared
his throat. Now, he said, very soon, you'll all be
going into battle, sooner than i'd prefer. We don't have
time for the kind of training you boys deserve. You'll

(08:38):
be fighting against men with more experience better weaponry. It's
a scary thought, but I'll tell you all right now,
if you go into that battle with the same blind
faith that brought you here, you'll do just fine. God
won't let any other end come to pass. It was

(08:59):
dark by the time Tim ditmar led them all into
the dining facility. The sight of the high school cafeteria
set off a surprising pang of nostalgia in Manny's heart.
He hadn't enjoyed school, but something about the gray, fabric
colored walls, the colorful posters, and the dozens of identical
faux wood tables made him long for a simpler time.
For a second, he was almost able to forget where
he was, what he was doing, and pretend this was

(09:21):
just another day in school. That illusion was broken when
he looked at his fellow martyrs. Hundreds of them had
filed into the cafeteria, dressed in a motley assortment of
battle dress uniforms from the old U. S Army, the
Republic of Texas, and even the Mexican Army. Most of
them were young, not even into their twenties. Around a
quarter of them, though, were old for soldiers, and their

(09:41):
forties or fifties. There was no military discipline in their appearance.
Many of the men had beards or long, unruly hair.
These fox aren't soldiers, Roland whispered to him as they
took their seats at one of the fake wooden tables
on the left side of the room. This is what
can father looks like. Kid. The heavenly Kingdom just expects
these people to die. Many felt a surge of anxiety.

(10:01):
He was sure someone else must have heard Rowland, but
when he glanced around, he saw their table mates were
all deep in conversation with each other. Most of them,
at least Jonathan, the only other non white person in
their training unit, seemed to have been excluded. The other
soldiers leaned away from him. The focus of the table
seemed to be a tall, square jawed young man with
a Georgian twang to his accent Martyrs. A loud voice

(10:24):
cried from a podium at the center of the cafeteria.
The sound of hundreds of bodies on hundreds of chairs
turning to face the noise filled the room. The speaker
was a tall, painfully thin man clad in a long
black robe. An enormous wooden cross hung from his neck.
His hair was greasy, unruly, and shock white. He had
a patchy beard and the overall look of an unkimpt madman.
But then he spoke, My brothers, it is a blessed

(10:46):
thing to have you all here today. He began, in
a voice that was little more than a whisper. There
was a raw rasp to his voice. He sounded almost hoarse.
Something about that quality drew Manny's attention. In the coming days,
your instructors will prep pare you for the great battles
that lie ahead. You will be given the best arms
and armorack Kingdom can provide. But just by being here,

(11:08):
each of you has shown you already have a weapon
more powerful than any tool in our armory. Faith in
God Almighty. His voice raised in pitch. Now it was
still raspi and horse, but it picked up a sharp,
booming quality. He spoke faster, his cheeks grew red. Put
on the armor of God, he cried, And you will
stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Be strong

(11:30):
and courageous. Do not panic before the enemy, For in
every battle the Lord your God will go ahead of you.
He will never fail you nor abandon you. At this
several of the men around the room pounded their fists
on the tables. One man in the back led out
a whoop. These outbursts inspired other men to cry out
praise God. Manny glanced around, trying to gauge if more

(11:52):
or less than half of the room was joining in.
He didn't want to stay quiet if that was going
to look weird. But then the pastor went quiet. A
sense of antis had patient filled the room. There were
about four hundred cadets all dining together in this shift,
and of course the officer in charge, a tall, gangly
redhead with no chin but a strangely beautiful baritone voice,
led them in prayer before the meal. Manny repeated the

(12:13):
words after him, but he didn't hear them. He did
have to elbow Rowland once when he saw the big
post human wasn't chanting along with the other soldiers. Just then,
a pair of big doors to the left of the
stage swung open. Ditmar walked out with a hefty brown
canvas bag over his shoulder. He was followed by an
armed guard and then two men in shackles. The captives
wore striped white prison pajamas, and they both looked the

(12:35):
worse for wear. One of them, a middle aged black man,
looked familiar. Many thought he must be a captured sd
F fighter. His lip looked as if it had recently
been split, and there was a nasty gash on his forehead.
He kept his head down and his shoulder slumped. His
posture was one of complete resignation. The other man was
Manny's heart skipped a beat Oscar. He'd been beaten too,

(12:57):
although not as badly as the soldier. He looked not
so much frightened as bewildered, starving, and probably reeling from
one or more head injuries. Dude Roland nudged Manny's rib
cage and whispered to him the fuck. Many realized his
masket slipped. He let himself stare in horror rather than
the excitement evident in everyone else's face. No one else
seemed to have noticed yet, they were all focused on

(13:19):
the prisoners, But Many forced a grim smile onto his
face and tried to look at least like he was
deeply satisfied. An armed martyr prodded Oscar and the STF
man in their backs with his rifle and ushered them
up onto the stage. Dead silence reigned over the cafeteria.
No one spoke. It took Manny a few seconds to
realize he was actually holding his breath. Once the captives

(13:39):
were up on stage, the armed martyrs pulled them down
to their knees. Ditmar set his bag down and zipped
it and pulled out a wooden rod about two feet
in length and as stick around as Manny's forearm. Warriors
of God, The priest in toned in a low whisper.
Manny felt himself lean into the man's words, even as
dread pickled the pit of his stomach. These men appointed
themselves enemies of our heavenly kingdom, foes of God. He

(14:02):
raised a hand up to Ditmar. His hand shook, but
not out of fear. He positively vibrated with excitement. Who
among you will take up the rod and punish these men?
The chair scraping floor sound of someone standing up very
quickly rose behind him. Many glanced back and saw that
one of the men from his cadet group had been
the first to stand. He was tall, with broad, thick
shoulders and chest muscles that spoke of a youth spent

(14:24):
laboring in the field. He had thin, dirty blonde hair,
a thick jaw and blue eyes that shone with excitement.
What's your name, Martyr, the priest asked Eric Friedman, Sir.
The young man cried back, Martyr Freedman, Ditmark cried out
as he held the rod up. Come forward and do
the Lord's work. The young man walked forward, stepped up
onto the stage and took the rod from Ditmar's hand.

(14:47):
He glanced down at the captives. His eyes passed over
Oscar and lingered on the battered black soldier. Strike a
blow for the Lord. The priest whispered, and Martyr Freedman obliged.
His first swing was weak and sure and poorly aimed,
struck the soldier on his shoulder. He didn't cry out.
Martyr Friedman's second strike was harder, sure. He hit the
soldier right in the gash on his forehead, and the

(15:08):
man dropped with a muffled cry. Eric hit him again,
and again and again. Ditmark grabbed another rod from the
bag and held it out. Stand up, Men of God.
The priest's voice rose again to a pitch so high
it was almost a shriek. Step up and be the
hands of justice. Just for a moment. Oscar saw him surprise,
then confusion, and then anger passed over the stringer's face.

(15:29):
In the space of about a second. Manny didn't want
to think about what Oscar saw in his face. And
then men rushed the stage, and Oscar disappeared in the
swarm of martyrs to be rushing to share in the beatings.
Roland took the opportunity provided by the chaos to lean
back and whisper a question to Manny, what's going on? Guy?
I know that guy, the one on the left. Manny
whispered back, he's one of my stringers. He works for me.

(15:52):
He's my friend. Roland nodded and then stood up and
rushed up to the stage. By the time he reached it,
a dozen other martyrs joined Eric and beating the two captives.
There was blood on the floor, blood on the sticks,
and blood splattering the martyr's new uniforms. Oscar cried out
from each blow. It sounded like his mouth was full
of blood. And then Roland took a rod from Ditmar's

(16:12):
hand and in the space of a second, brought it
down on both men's skulls with dull, meaty thuds. The
soldiers went still, the screaming stopped, and every eye in
the room turned to Roland. The chrombed man looked out
at the crowd. There was an agonizing moment of silence,
and then Manny knew what he had to do. Praise God,
he screamed out. The room joined in, and soon a

(16:33):
chorus of cheers filled the cafeteria. After that, Roland was
everyone's favorite martyr. Once the men's bodies were dragged off
the stage and dinner began, the martyrs could barely contain
their admiration for his strength. That was incredible. Eric said,
I can't wait to go into battle with you. What
did you do before? A young man with a thick
Oklahoma twang asked, from the way you cracked those skulls

(16:55):
out of guest, You've been doing that for years. Roland
gave short, non committal responses. His taciturn attitude didn't stop
the other martyrs from talking about him with supreme glee.
Their words sickened Manny, but their focus on Roland gave
him a chance to breathe and mourn and avoid looking
over at the stage while Ditmar's men dragged Oscar's body away.
By the time the excitement had subsided and dinner had ended,

(17:17):
Manny felt like he could just barely make it to
his bunk without breaking down. He lacked behind Roland and
the others as they all filed into the barracks. Mannie
was grateful for Roland's ability to draw attention until during
the walk that young black martyr sidled up to Manny
and introduced himself. I'm Jonathan, he said, and I'm honored
to meet you. Why, Manny asked. I think you and

(17:38):
I were the only ones who weren't cheering to ring
that ah, Manny said with a nod. He took a
careful look at Jonathan's face. The other man's chubby cheeks
and soft smile seemed almost calculated to make him look guileless.
Whatever he says, he's one of them, be careful. I
understand why it was necessary, Manny said, but I don't

(17:58):
have to like it. Neither do I. Jonathan said. We
have to fight them. We're fighting for God hereafter all,
but we don't have to become monsters. Manny nodded, he
didn't say anything. Jonathan took that as an invitation to
say more. I think we're going to have a harder
time here than the others, he said, and gestured to
the very Caucasian crowd ahead of them. We've got a

(18:19):
lot to overcome here, but I think that just means
God will shower more glory on us for the effort.
Manny was proud that, in his sorrowful and half panicked state,
he managed to avoid shouting what the fuck at Jonathan. Instead,
he matched the martyr's smile and just said praise God.

(18:44):
Their next morning started with an hour of calisthenics. The
workout was strenuous, but Manny actually enjoyed it. The speed
with which they were dragged outside and forced into motion
kept him from picturing Oscar's face for a while. After
the workout, they dove into the real meat of the day,
a trip to the gun range. It had been set
up on what had once been a marching band's practice field.
Dozens of vaguely human shaped targets had been cut out

(19:06):
of sheet metal and set up at varying intervals behind
a crude sandbag line. Their group of about two dozen
new recruits were each issued weapons of varying quality. Manny
received a jankie old kalashnikov that rattled like a Morocca
Rowland was given and almost knew g thirty six assault rifle.
The range instructor was a one legged old martyr with
a prodigious belly and an equally overgrown white beard. He

(19:28):
walked them through the basics if how to operate a
variety of different assault rifles. You can't know what weapon
you'll end up needn't to use, and then set them
up on the sandbag line and told them to start firing.
Manny took aim at a target around a hundred feet
in front of him. It was hard to tell if
he hid it or not. Several other men had aimed
at the same target. Again, Manny got the feeling that
the purpose of this training was not to make them marksmen.

(19:50):
Basic familiarity was all the Heavenly Kingdom had time to provide. Rowland,
of course, proved a fabulous shot. He stitched a smiley
face and bullet holes across four of the old targets
and earned genuine praise from the instructor. My godson, you've
got a gift. This only increased Roland's social cachet with
the martyrs. They crowded around him during the walk to

(20:11):
the next activity of the day, lunch in a lecture
on assault tactics, This was held in a little concrete amphitheater,
something that had presumably once served the school's drama department.
Manny tried to sit down next to Roland, but Eric
and a gaggle of his friends settled around the post
human First, they babbled excitedly to him. Manny wasn't sure
what they were saying, but every time he glanced back,

(20:31):
Roland looked absolutely miserable. Manny wound up in the back,
seated next to Jonathan. The young martyr patted his leg.
Don't worry, brother, he said. It's gonna be tough for
us to earn their respect, but once we're all out
in the field together, they'll stop caring about your skin.
You are sure about that, Manny asked, happy he was
never going to wind up in the field with any
of these people. Of course, I am, Jonathan said, I

(20:54):
grew up in Atlanta. You know, I knew it was
going to be rough coming out here. But that's the
sacrifice we make for God. I know he's going to
bring this nation back together. Tell you the truth, I'm
honored to be a part of that. Jonathan's eyes shone
when he spoke. He's a true believer. Manny realized there's
not a doubt in his mind that he's doing the
right thing. That was scary, and things got scarier still

(21:16):
when their next instructor stepped into the amphitheater. The man
was old and grizzled too. He had both his legs,
but his right arm was missing below the elbow, and
a jagged scar ran up the left side of his face.
The skin on most of his forehead was bald and modeled,
as if he'd been badly burned. Afternoon, boys, and God
bless you. I'm Mada Caruthers. Today you're going to learn

(21:36):
how to assault a fortified position. Most of the strategies
you walked them through began and ended with the application
of shoulder fired rockets and incendiary grenades. Manny couldn't help
but notice that no time was spent talking about how
to avoid civilian casualties. He wasn't even sure specialist Caruthers
knew how to pronounce the word civilian. Remember what it
says in the Book of Samuel, Boys, the older man drawled.

(21:58):
Now go and strike, can devote to destruction all that
you have. Do not spare them, but kill both man
and woman, child and infant. Ox and sheep, camel and donkey,
he laughed, which made a few of the young martyrs
comfortable enough to laugh too. I don't expect you'll run
into any camels or donkeys out in Austin, but there
will be men, women, children and infants. If they stand

(22:19):
in your way, they all equally deserve to be purged.
Manny didn't like the eagerness he saw in the faces
of his fellow students. The pit in his stomach grew
Throughout the day, While Martyr Caruthers explained how to use
the various heavy munitions they might be called upon to deploy,
there weren't enough rockets or mortars for them to actually
train on any of those things. Manny wasn't sure how
good a gist anyone really got. He wondered how much

(22:41):
that would matter when these men took to the field.
He ate ravenously at dinner. Thankfully, there were no executions
that day, but Martyr Ditmar did take the stage again
and announced that the busses were ready to take any
interested recruits down to the main drag for a couple
of hours of what passed for R and R. One
of the older martyrs handed everyone ash and cards and
explained they were good for either a cup of coffee

(23:03):
or tea, or a small amount of food from one
of the few stores that had opened back up. Fucking tea,
Roland grumbled into Manny's ear as they headed out for
the buses. That's what these jumped up Puritans considered recreational
beverage this fucking country. Manny had noticed the post human
growing increasingly jittery in irritable throughout the day. He'd seen
Roland cautiously cough up another small bag of pills right

(23:24):
before lunch that had sated him for a while. But
considering his post human metabolism, man he thought he had
to be pretty close to sober. I am so fucking lucid.
I can't stand it, Roland muttered, What is it with
you people and being high all the time? Manny whispered back,
can you stand being sober for a few days? Not
if I'm gonna help it, Roland said. He pointed to

(23:45):
his head. There's just too much going on in there, man,
too much input. It's like my whole body itches, but
I can't scratch ah, Mann, he said, since he wasn't
sure what else to say. The bus hit downtown Plano
after twenty minutes or so. It wasn't an impressive site.
There were maybe a dozen little shops in one cafe open,
plus a pretty sad looking farmer's market. He could see

(24:05):
no signs of any bars, any clubs, anything that even
vaguely resembled nightlife. The main drag was crowded with people,
throngs of soldiers and young women in long dresses and
new immigrants into the heavenly Kingdom. Where should we go first,
Manny asked. As soon as they'd filed off the bus well,
Roland grunted, Unless you're in the mood for shaky coff
here some rude vegetables, I'd say we check out that gallows.

(24:27):
Manny had avoided looking too long at the gallows. It
was empty now, but just staring at it made him
feel sick. There was something sinister and unsettling about the
ground beneath it. It was as if he could feel
the death radiating outwards. What could we possibly learn there,
the Big man shrugged, not much. But if they wind
up hanging anyone tonight, I might be able to sniff
out where they're keeping the prisoners. That'd be useful data. Well,

(24:50):
I'm gonna be useless for that, Manny said, what should
I do? I don't know, man grab some coffee what
Roland locked eyes with him. He didn't do that often.
His gaze was normal lee, as shifty and juttery as
the rest of him. Look, kid, you've done a great
job above and beyond the collie and a duty or whatever,
and you're good company too. But I got half a
dozen satellites worth a sensory equipment in my brain and

(25:10):
hundreds of wee bitty microscopic robots floating around the air
feeding me news. There's really not much for you to
do here. Chill out, find whatever passes for relaxation here
and do it. I'll get you when it's time to go.
Many started to protest, but then he thought, what the hell,
He's right, I'm useless. I've earned a cup of flavorless
gringo coffee. So we thanked Roland and headed off in

(25:31):
the direction of the strip's functioning coffee house, the Cafe Clement.
It looked like it was less crowded than the others.
As he reached for the door, someone slammed into him.
She was a young blonde, younger than Manny, at any rate.
She wore baggy surgical scrubs. Her jaw was tight and clenched.
Her brown eyes were wide with fear, and there were
deep bags under them. Oh oh my, she said, I'm

(25:52):
so sorry, sir. Please let me. It's okay. Manny said,
no damage done. Are you all right? You look terrified.
I'm just just trying to avoid someone. It's nothing serious.
Manny wasn't sure why, but he pulled the ration cards
he'd been given out of his pocket and offered one
to the stranger. Here, if you want, we can grab
a table together and I'll sit with my back to
the door. You're not big, I can block you. She

(26:14):
looked surprised and a little hesitant, but after a few
blinks she nodded and said, I actually appreciate that a lot.
Thank God for you, sir. Yeah, Manny agreed, praise him.
They sat and ordered coffee. The young woman kept craning
her neck around Manny to peek at the door behind them. Look,
I'm not going to ask what's up with you? But
can I get your name? At least that might make

(26:35):
this less awkward. I'm man U Emmanuel Manny for short, Sasha.
She said, I just got here a few days ago.
You this is my second day, She looked, surprised. I
wouldn't have guessed, what with the uniform, he laughed. It
turns out they just hand these to anyone who hold
a gun. I didn't even really have a choice. Well,

(26:56):
if that's where you wound up, I'm sure it's where
the Lord wants you. Praise God for that. She didn't
seem like she was joking, but there was something about
her tone and the way her jaw and never unclinched
that made Manny suspect she was a little less than
convinced about her own words. For the next few minutes
they talked in between SIPs of mediocre coffee. He learned
she was from the American Federation and enough of a
true believer that she'd smuggled herself into the heavenly kingdom.

(27:20):
She didn't seem like a zella, though. More than anything,
she seemed scared. How do you like it here, he
finally asked, Is it what you'd expected? She didn't respond
for quite a while. Instead, she stared into his eyes.
Manny stared back. It was a strange feeling. She must
have been trying to search out whether he was trustworthy
or trying to trick her into revealing her disloyalty. He

(27:41):
maintained eye contact and tried not to seem like a
member of whatever the Heavenly Kingdom called their secret police.
Apparently it worked. Of course, I'm happy here in God's Kingdom,
she smiled, an empty smile. I've been blessed to meet
so many dedicated people, but um, I've also met some
people who am I am well, she coughed. Not everyone
here seems to have the Lord in their heart. Manny

(28:03):
almost laughed at the irony and her admitting that to him,
but he kept his mouth shut and just nodded. Sasha
took a long sip of her coffee. He felt a
little bad for staring. She was very pretty, but she
was also pretty young, and of course she'd volunteered to
join a theocratic murder state. That was probably another reason
he shouldn't get too attached. So anyway, Sasha explained, I've

(28:24):
run into some men I don't like very much, and
they keep finding me when I get off from my
shift at the hospital. I'm sure they're waiting outside the
house of where I'm staying right now. I just don't
want to deal with that again. Well, Manny smiled his
most charming smile. I'm happy to help you waite them out.
I've got another hour at least before the buses take
us back to the barracks. And so for a while

(28:46):
they just talked. She told him about her work in
the hospital, and he tried to say as little as
possible about his two shitty days as a martyr. Sasha
didn't seem to mind that he didn't have much to
say about himself. Manny got the feelings she was just
happy to have someone to talk with. Most of her
words passed over him until she mentioned something about a prisoner.
She's from one of the road people from some moving

(29:06):
city with an obscene name, and she's pregnant. So I'll
be seeing her again tomorrow, probably to do a more
thorough examination. I feel weird about it. She was so strange,
so different from anyone I've met, but I really don't
like Wait, a prisoner is this at the hospital? Sasha
seemed confused by that question, and Mannie worried he might
have overplayed his hand. Why do you The rest of

(29:27):
her question was cut off by the sound of a
bull horn outside. Manny couldn't make out most of what
was being said until he heard prisoners and sd F
in an electronically distorted Southern drawl. Oh no, Sasha moaned,
what what are they talking about? It's another execution. Manny
stood up and stepped towards the door. He had to

(29:47):
see who it was. Even before he got there, a
terrible feeling had started to boil up in the pit
of his gut. He pushed the door open, jogged towards
the gallows, and pushed his way back through the crowd.
He could see Rowland standing to the feed off to
the left from the wooden platform, but Manny's eyes were
focused on the four men and two women in shackles
at the foot of the gallows. Five of them were strangers.

(30:09):
Six was Mr Coron. 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 fund me.

(30:31):
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 the Revolution the

(30:53):
Sequel on go fund me and our slash after the
Revolution on Reddit. A t r book dot com for
the whole book. Thanks