Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 121153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“Judah!” I screamed, but my brother just stood there, watching me with a haunting, calm stare. “JUDAH!”
He stepped forward and met my eyes. “You were right about our people’s fates being sealed, brother. God told me, many weeks ago, what to do if the devil’s men prevailed. I always had another plan. God spoke to me, and I did as he told me. I prepared us well, just in case. The Lord would never let me—his shining light—ever fail. And now the moment has arrived.”
I froze, energy draining from me as he began to walk away. “What do you mean by that? What have you got prepared?” I asked to his retreating back, panic lacing my words. His guards followed. “Judah! What do you fucking mean by that?”
But Judah and the guards simply walked away. I sat back on the hard floor, looking at my friends. “What is he doing? What the fuck is he doing? The Hangmen will be here soon. They’ll open fire. They’ll kill everyone.”
My friends said nothing; they were as clueless as I. But as minutes passed in silence, I could a feel a shift in the air. An ominous feeling built and built in my stomach until it became a tidal wave of dread. I couldn’t get Judah’s too-calm eyes from my head. I had never seen that from him before. Something had snapped in him.
He was going to do something terrible . . . I just knew it.
The crackling sounds of the speakers coming to life echoed around the empty plain. Judah’s voice came powering through, and my heart dropped to the floor. “People of The Order! Drop what you are doing and gather in the Great Plain. Move quickly! Gather all the children; send word to your friends. I repeat, all are to gather in the Great Plain. I have received a new revelation from the Lord. And we must hurry, our very salvation depends on it!” Tinny prayer music began drifting from the speakers.
In seconds, people began filtering into the grassy field. They were on the other side of the land from us. I tried to shout, to get their attention, but my voice could not be heard over the music. My hand gripped onto the bars as I watched the guards and the elders of the commune approach the plain, dragging carts in their wake. My eyes narrowed. The carts were loaded with large barrels.
Stephen, Ruth, Solomon and Samson joined me at the gates. “What the hell are they?” I asked, as more carts were wheeled in. More barrels, then boxes of something that I couldn’t see.
“I have no idea,” Stephen said. “They look like barrels of wine.”
“He is holding a communion?” Samson asked. “He is breaking bread and wine?”
I shook my head. I had no idea why he would hold a communion with the Hangmen attack so close.
Dozens upon dozens of people began to fill the vast space. The guards swarmed around them like vultures, shouting at them to sit down. Children began crying; fear, like a perfect storm, swept among the masses. The guards aimed their guns at the people who showed too much panic or questioned what was happening.
I didn’t know how much time passed. It felt like only minutes before the entire commune was sitting on the grass before us. The heat was stifling. Babies cried and children wailed. The adults were praying in earnest, rocking back and forth, as the guards, dressed all in black, fired warning shots into the air. The fear was palpable . . . and all I could do was sit and watch.
Judah walked to the platform that was permanently in the field. He held a microphone in his hand. As before, a creepy stillness fell over him . . . then he began to preach . . .
“People of The Order,” Judah began. He held a hand up in the air, and like they always did, the people fell silent. It was eerie to watch as they all stared at him, hanging on his every word. Their gazes were fixed upon him . . . and I saw it. I saw, in full technicolor, the absolute power he had over them that I had never owned. His tone of voice was magnetizing, and the way his eyes ran over each and every row of believers seemed to connect with them all on a personal level.
Up on that stage, he was their messiah.
“They will do anything he wants them to,” I whispered. I watched my twin step to the side of the stage, hundreds of eager eyes following his every movement.
“The Lord had, many weeks ago, revealed to us that we were to take on the devil’s men in a holy war. It was a task we have prepared for for weeks . . . ” He paused, then said, “But today I received a new message. An important one . . . one that will save all our souls without facing down the demons.”