owed Call an explanation. Especially after she’d promised to stay with him. “I have food left, and my weapons…”
“You’ll stay right here, Lia,” Father Speer said, leading them back to the conference room, “We’ll worry about retrieving your things. Your weapons in particular will be needed.”
“Here.” Charla passed her back her pistol. She tucked it away in her pants with no thought of using it to get away. This was her family. This was her home now.
“You were in that room for only a day,” the minister informed her when they were alone together later that evening. He sent the girls away for “reflection time.” Planning their violent escape would come after they got their hands on Lia’s weapons. She’d gotten away with too many on her person for them to just leave them behind. “Mmm. Maybe two.”
“It felt like ages,” she said. He had no mattress for her, but he’d laid out what looked like a pile of couch cushions. He had a cot himself. “It was so dark.”
“I didn’t know you were so fearful,” he said. “We’ll have to work on that. The purification will help.” Oh. It was silly to hope he’d let the ritual go.
“When?” she whispered.
“The morning,” he said.
“Where will we go when we get out of here?”
“A few of the girls spoke of rest stops. Safe places with hidden supplies. We’ll sack what we can and then find a new farm to settle.” He sat on his cot, lost in thought. “We’ll find and keep more vehicles on hand in case the herd finds us again. I’ll teach you girls how to drive.”
“I”d like that,” she said with a smile. She’d just gotten her license in her old life when the apocalypse happened. She was sure she remembered how to operate a vehicle, but probably not how to drive very well. Driving a truck sounded like a good way to escape the herd, too, if it came to that again.
Or a motorcycle.
She settled down in her pile of cushions. Father Speer switched off the little hand-cranked lamp he carried himself, bathing them in darkness, and then sank to the floor next to her. She froze in fear. Not now. She thought of Call and of the way he’d reacted when she spoke of the minister’s nighttime habit.
Father Speer scooted closer, until she could feel his breath on the top of her head. “We’ll all be safe again soon. You’ll see.” His hand rested on her hip. “You’ve done many wrongs, Lia, but we will cleanse you of them. We all have our weaknesses.” He brushed his fingertips beneath her shirt and across her ribs. “I do, too.”
The alarm bells returned. The ones that she never heard with Call. The ones that told her “this is wrong.” But she ignored them as she always did, allowing the minister to touch her, allowing herself to go through the motions of helping him get off and soil her hand. All the while she stared up into the darkness. The familiar ball of dread was back. It felt like home again, all right.
◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙
They began the ritual first thing in the morning. They left the smaller offices where they slept and gathered once more in the conference room. She realized they were in an isolated segment of the floor of the building - a suite of sorts, with two heavy wooden doors splitting them off from the larger part of the complex. Those doors were barred, she realized - shotguns jammed between the pull bars. No one would be able to push their way in. The only other way to reach the floor was through the stairs, but Lia realized as she stepped out that Father Speer had the girls on rotating guard duty.
They really had managed to isolate themselves within the sanctuary. Though he claims it isn’t a sanctuary at all.
All four girls gathered behind Father Speer as he instructed Lia to stand with her hands against the wall. “Emily was the last to be purified amongst us. As she is no longer with us and cannot perform the ritual, I shall step up.”
Oh, shit. The curse word rose to
“You’ll stay right here, Lia,” Father Speer said, leading them back to the conference room, “We’ll worry about retrieving your things. Your weapons in particular will be needed.”
“Here.” Charla passed her back her pistol. She tucked it away in her pants with no thought of using it to get away. This was her family. This was her home now.
“You were in that room for only a day,” the minister informed her when they were alone together later that evening. He sent the girls away for “reflection time.” Planning their violent escape would come after they got their hands on Lia’s weapons. She’d gotten away with too many on her person for them to just leave them behind. “Mmm. Maybe two.”
“It felt like ages,” she said. He had no mattress for her, but he’d laid out what looked like a pile of couch cushions. He had a cot himself. “It was so dark.”
“I didn’t know you were so fearful,” he said. “We’ll have to work on that. The purification will help.” Oh. It was silly to hope he’d let the ritual go.
“When?” she whispered.
“The morning,” he said.
“Where will we go when we get out of here?”
“A few of the girls spoke of rest stops. Safe places with hidden supplies. We’ll sack what we can and then find a new farm to settle.” He sat on his cot, lost in thought. “We’ll find and keep more vehicles on hand in case the herd finds us again. I’ll teach you girls how to drive.”
“I”d like that,” she said with a smile. She’d just gotten her license in her old life when the apocalypse happened. She was sure she remembered how to operate a vehicle, but probably not how to drive very well. Driving a truck sounded like a good way to escape the herd, too, if it came to that again.
Or a motorcycle.
She settled down in her pile of cushions. Father Speer switched off the little hand-cranked lamp he carried himself, bathing them in darkness, and then sank to the floor next to her. She froze in fear. Not now. She thought of Call and of the way he’d reacted when she spoke of the minister’s nighttime habit.
Father Speer scooted closer, until she could feel his breath on the top of her head. “We’ll all be safe again soon. You’ll see.” His hand rested on her hip. “You’ve done many wrongs, Lia, but we will cleanse you of them. We all have our weaknesses.” He brushed his fingertips beneath her shirt and across her ribs. “I do, too.”
The alarm bells returned. The ones that she never heard with Call. The ones that told her “this is wrong.” But she ignored them as she always did, allowing the minister to touch her, allowing herself to go through the motions of helping him get off and soil her hand. All the while she stared up into the darkness. The familiar ball of dread was back. It felt like home again, all right.
◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙
They began the ritual first thing in the morning. They left the smaller offices where they slept and gathered once more in the conference room. She realized they were in an isolated segment of the floor of the building - a suite of sorts, with two heavy wooden doors splitting them off from the larger part of the complex. Those doors were barred, she realized - shotguns jammed between the pull bars. No one would be able to push their way in. The only other way to reach the floor was through the stairs, but Lia realized as she stepped out that Father Speer had the girls on rotating guard duty.
They really had managed to isolate themselves within the sanctuary. Though he claims it isn’t a sanctuary at all.
All four girls gathered behind Father Speer as he instructed Lia to stand with her hands against the wall. “Emily was the last to be purified amongst us. As she is no longer with us and cannot perform the ritual, I shall step up.”
Oh, shit. The curse word rose to
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