WEBVTT - Chapter Six 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.640 Chapter six, Sasha, history is a messy thing class. Even 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:11.400 a question as simple as when did the Second American 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:15.880 Civil War begin doesn't have a clear answer. Some scholars 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.360 say the first shots were fired during the failed Montana 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.840 Seccession Movement of twenty forty. Others will name the Dallas 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.720 Water Riots of forty one or the bombing of the 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.160 Diamond Building six months later by leftist militants. You can 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.160 make a good evidence based case for any of these. 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:34.600 Mister Dane was a good lecturer, with a rich baritone 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.400 voice and a habit of animating his lectures with vibrant 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.559 hand gestures. He was Sasha's favorite teacher and one of 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.680 her favorite people. Mister Dane was a heathen, of course, 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.360 but he was still a sweet man. She appreciated his 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.680 even handed perspective and his commitment to the unbiased study 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.200 of history. It broke her heart that no one else 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:57.040 in her Advanced Placement Continental History class seemed to appreciate him. 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.200 The other twenty four students stared ahead with slackened aws 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.120 and unfocused eyes. They were all deep in their decks, 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.680 messaging friends, browsing snap bids, or playing whatever game was 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.039 popular right now. Decks were far too entrenched in modern 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.560 life for schools to force them off during class time. Instead, 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.959 the school filtered the WiFi and forced students to download 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.560 apps that restricted access during school hours. This had led 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.319 to a thriving underground trade and apps that countered the 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:27.360 school spyware and covertly lifted the blocks. The district I 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.360 T Team was locked in a perpetual losing battle to 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.839 spot and crack these programs. But on a practical level, 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:37.280 the teachers, like mister Dane, just had to accept the intrusion. 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.920 The students didn't ignore him entirely, but very few of 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.920 them gave him their full attention. They didn't give anything 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.840 their full attention. Really. Most of her peers went through 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.520 their days half reading two or three conversations, playing games, 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.600 and scrolling through several social media feeds, even when they 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.080 were out in the world surrounded by people. Pastor Mike 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.920 called it the death of Joy. That was the name 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.840 of the essay and revelator that had first turned Sasha 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.760 on to the heavenly Kingdom. He'd railed against distraction culture, 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.760 which he said not only robbed mankind of a relationship 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.120 with God, but it also robs us of the little moments, 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:15.760 the quiet joys of living are drowned by a flood 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:18.600 of data. It's a mosquito bite on the human soul, 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.400 and the masses have convinced themselves that the abatement of 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:25.480 discomfort from scratching this itch is the same ashappiness. All 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.960 around her classmates scratched their itches while mister Dane lectured. 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.360 He looked so lonely up there, They all looked lonely. 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.240 So mister Dane cleared his throat in an attempt to 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:37.960 pull at least a few of his students out of 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.960 their stupor. As we close this unit, I'd like to 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.959 ask you all a simple question. What should we call 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.320 the war that split the United States? Your textbook calls 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.079 it the Second American Civil War. In the Northwest, and 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:53.760 the Christian States they call it the Revolution. By next Monday, 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.120 I'd like each of you to upload an essay arguing 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:00.360 which name is more appropriate. One thousand words please. The 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.080 bell rang. The other students got up slowly in twos 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.880 and threes and made for the door. Sasha was one 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.120 of the first up, but mister Dane called to her 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.480 before she reached the exit. Miss Marian, would you mind 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.840 holding back. A moment, Sasha stiffened. She glanced involuntarily up 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:18.360 to one of the government's propaganda posters on the wall. 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.200 It showed a young man with a brightly colored backpack, 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.519 surrounded by burnt out buildings in rubble. A green rocket 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.320 hung above him like the sword of Damocles, an instant 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.800 away from impact. Next to the young man were the 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.680 words think again, step back, Yes, sir, she asked. As 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.640 she approached his desk. Mister Dane fixed her with a 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.840 kind smile. He looked around forty, although that was no 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.640 guarantee of anything. His eyes and lips were creased with 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.040 smile lines. Though she liked that about him. You seemed 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.080 a bit distracted to day, Sasha. That's not uncommon for 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:52.520 most of my students, he gave a slightly forced laugh. 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.240 But you're normally so engaged. I just wanted to make 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:59.280 sure everything's okay. Over the last year, Sasha had started 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.040 building up a dock pile of what she called defensive smiles. 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.600 She had one for when her parents were worried, another 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.960 for her few friends, and another for the school administrators. 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:12.240 The smiles were calculated to reassure everyone that she was 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.680 still normal. Sasha, and she certainly wasn't planning to escape 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.200 to the heavenly Kingdom. But she'd never worked up a 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.919 smile from Mr Dane. She genuinely enjoyed his class, so 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.159 it hadn't seemed necessary. She just decided to go with 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:30.160 her friend smile and hope that worked. I'm okay, I'm 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.080 just you know, inspiration head her. The news today is 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:37.240 so scary. What's happening down in Texas. I'm worried. Mr 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.200 Dane visibly relaxed. Ah, yes, I can see why you'd 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.560 be troubled by that. I think it's taken everyone a 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.520 bit by surprise. He paused and struggled with his words. 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.680 I expect it must be somewhat more difficult for you 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.600 than the rest of the class. Being a Christian. Her 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.280 smile faltered a bit. She knew she was supposed to 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.880 act like one of the tame preachers the government trotted out, 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.760 the men and women who'd Christianity was all about peace 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.560 and love. They'd say that the Lord's truth could coexist 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.240 with the equal truths of other faiths and with the 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.320 secular world of the am fed. That all felt wrong 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.400 to her, but a little irritation was worth avoiding suspicion. 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.159 My faith is stronger than a handful of terrorists, she 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.839 said to mister Dane. There are a lot of Christians 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.120 in the secular forces. You know they'll when in the end, 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.880 won't they. Mister Dane's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.320 bored into hers. Sasha was more comfortable with eye contact 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:33.080 than most teens, but she found this deeply uncomfortable, invasive. 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:37.240 Even after several long seconds, he spoke, I fear it's 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.800 going to be a long, bloody fight before that happens. 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.800 We're very lucky to be insulated from all that madness, 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.920 you know, he sighed. An eleventh grader, However, a Jefferson 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.159 I was killed fighting in Dallas yesterday. The news just broke. 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.640 Sasha hadn't been aware, but thank God for him and 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.640 his sacrifice. She thought, that's awful, She said, I can't 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:01.120 imagine what his parents must be going through. No, you can't, 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.560 he agreed, And then mister Dane broke eye contact. He 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:06.919 looked down at the ground, and his voice dropped an 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.719 octave as he asked, did you know I had a son? 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:14.440 Genuine surprise passed over Sasha's face. No, sir, I didn't. 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.080 He shrubbed and gave up on his smile. It wasn't 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.159 much more than a ghost now, Anyway, I married young, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.160 I was a dad at nineteen, and by the time 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.520 he was nineteen, the whole country was coming apart. He 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.559 reached down to his desk and picked up a small, 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.400 rather battered looking red button. It had the letters r 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.440 J printed in lower case letters across the front. Mister 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.480 Dane stared at it. Something twitched under his left eyelid. 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.719 He bit his upper lip. He was silent for a 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.279 long beat, and he swallowed and looked up at Sasha. 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.440 Do you know what this is? No, she said, reluctant 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.560 and pretty certain. She ought to have known. In the 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.920 years leading up to the revolution, there were a lot 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.600 of different activist movements founded and spread by anonymous radicals. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.800 They'd organized flashed demonstrations and co ordinated direct action campaigns. 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.760 The pins were one sort of I D badge, so 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:03.640 when you showed up for a flashed demo, you could 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:08.000 quickly identify your comrades. He shook his head ruefully. It 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.160 sounds silly now. All I can say is, at the 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.280 time it made sense, and it felt meaningful. The anonymous 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.120 voice I listened to was a guy named Red John. 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.280 He had all these videos about history, politics. He explained 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:20.880 the whole world and what was wrong with it in 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.040 a way that just felt right. I started playing his 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.360 stuff for my boy Mikey when he was thirteen or fourteen. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:29.560 I just wanted him to know what was going on. 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.760 I thought I was doing the right thing. Mister Dane's 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.560 eyes looked watery and heavy with the ghost of old tears. 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:39.480 He seemed to have trouble keeping his voice steady. Mikey 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.520 grew up believing hard, and when the fighting broke out, 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.680 he was young and strong and so very ready to 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.080 fight for the world he believed we all deserved. Mister 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.040 Dane set the pen back on the desk with its 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:55.760 cover facing down. His eyes were red. He died in Denver, 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.280 mister Dane said, and his voice broke a little shot 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.480 through the head. When the National Guard pushed into Westminster, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.960 Sasha put a hand on mister Dane's shoulder. It was 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.880 an instinctive move, blessedly honest. She silently thanked God for 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.480 this moment of connection to the educator she so admired. 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:16.040 He smiled back at her, thank you. I don't mean 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:17.600 for this to be a lecture. I don't think those 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:20.480 tend to work. Just he glanced back at the table. 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.120 Just be careful about putting your faith in charismatic men 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.240 and their ideas. I will, she said. A minute later, 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.200 as she left the classroom, a notification pip lit up 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.760 on the top right corner of her vision. She wink 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.240 clicked it and saw a message from brother Andrew bus 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:41.800 stop twenty three a four thirty p m. The rest 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.520 of the day passed normally enough. In the afternoon, they 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.120 had an assembly about the suicide of a classmate. It 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:50.200 was the third this year. Principal Hargrave delivered the same 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.880 platitudes they'd all heard a hundred times. There was a 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:55.319 lot of talk about suicide hot lines and chat rooms. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.320 Of all the counseling services the school had available, Sasha 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.000 knew none of it would help. Almost twenty percent of 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.920 teens in the m FED would attempt suicide every year. 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:05.960 That number ticked up a few tenths of a percent, 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.520 and the government had no idea how to stop it. 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.400 Pastor Mike blamed the rash of suicides on the emptiness 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.280 of secular life. The spiritual whole at the center of 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.640 capitalism and the self worship had fed. Sasha thought he'd 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.560 hit that right on the money. Even the United Christian 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:25.240 States still engaged in global capitalism and doing so that 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.480 a dark God in permanent opposition to the Lord Almighty. 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:32.480 Pastor Mike again, she knew Principal hargraves lectures were pointless, 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:34.560 but she sat through the assembly and gave the right 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.640 smiles to the right people. The rest of the day, 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.520 she focused on her studies as best she could, despite 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.000 the growing anxiety in her gut. Two weeks ago, she'd 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.600 read a Pastor Mike article and revelator, don't talk yourself 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.040 out of Heaven. It had clearly been written for the 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:53.600 conflicted faithful just like her. I've received messages from hundreds 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.120 of you who say I'd love to open myself up 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.840 to martyrdom. But I'm a doctor, or a police officer 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.080 or an engineer, and I think I can do more 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.840 to glorify God where I am right now. Brothers and sisters, 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.840 these are the doubts of the serpent. Don't be fooled. 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.240 No one stays in comfort because they want to bring 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.360 glory to the Almighty. Our Lord does not speak to 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:16.240 us from comfortable places. He spoke to Moses in a 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:19.200 desolate desert, from a burning bush. He delivered his greatest 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.920 sermon atop a mountain. Jehovah wants our souls to be 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.280 so on fire with devotion that our own lives mean 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.840 nothing before his flame. The heavenly kingdom is that cleansing flame. 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.000 What a gift it is here now in your lifetime. 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.880 What a tragedy it would be to miss this chance 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:38.160 at salvation. She recited that passage again and again throughout 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.400 what she now knew would be her last day at school. 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.200 The words steadied her as she waved goodbye to mister 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.120 Dane at the end of the day. These are the 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.800 doubts of the serpent, they calmed her. When she looked 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.160 into her backpack, which held the small go back she'd 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.600 put together that morning. It was just a change of 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:56.440 clothes and a handful of hygiene items that seemed woefully inadequate, 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.800 but anything more would have looked suspicious. Leaving, I'm leaving. 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.680 It was only now, on the cusp of leaving, that 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.480 Sasha realized how much she was going to miss movie 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.920 night with her friends. Central heating in the winter, reliable 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.120 internet access. Our Lord does not speak to us from 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.240 comfortable places. It took her an embarrassing amount of time 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.400 to find the bus stop. She was scared to use 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.400 her deck. She'd shut it off as soon as she'd 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.080 left school, and she didn't know the city bus system 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.640 very well. She'd taken buses to school for years, but 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.079 her parents car had always driven her around the city. 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:31.120 She was ashamed of how anxious she felt about riding 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.599 a city bus. Here she was on her way to 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.960 a war zone and possible martyrdom, scared of public transit, 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.680 Be strong and courageous and do the work. She recited 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.840 David's advice to Solomon, do not be afraid or discouraged 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.040 for the Lord God, My God is with you. That 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.280 helped a little. Thinking of Alexander's smile, his green eyes, 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.440 and the strong lines of his jaw helped more. Sasha 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.319 didn't like admitting that to herself. It felt too carnal, 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:59.600 almost sacrilegious, but she knew that what mattered to God 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.480 were her actions. Even if her flight to Zion wasn't 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.160 done with a completely pure heart, God would forgive her 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.160 her sacrifice to build the new Jerusalem. Wo outweigh the 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.000 sinful part of her mind that couldn't stop imagining how 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.400 Alexander's strong arms would feel when they finally wrapped around her. 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.600 She waited at stop twenty three. A four thirty came 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.240 and went by four forty five p m. Her chest 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.440 burned with barely restrained panic. She was sure the people 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.120 passing by all knew her secret plans. A pair of 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.760 police officers passed her at one point. One of them, 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.760 a woman not much older than Sasha, flashed her a smile. 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.280 For a long time, she was convinced it had been 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.040 a sign that her communics had been intercepted and the 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.880 police or the FBI were onto her plan. But the 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.559 police didn't come to stop her, and after a quarter 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.520 hour that felt like days, a brown sedan rolled up 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.520 to the bus stop. Its window peeled down, and Sasha 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:51.959 locked eyes with a careworn young man in the back. 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:57.280 Sasha Marian. He asked yes, She said, are you brother Andrew? 0:12:57.800 --> 0:12:59.880 As I was with Moses, so will I be with 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.559 That was the pass phrase Alexander had told her to expect. 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.120 It was all Sasha could do to stop from bawling 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:16.280 right then and there. She got in the car, The 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.840 man inside was exactly what she'd have expected of a 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.240 man and brother Andrew's profession. He had long, straw colored 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:24.760 hair and a ragged beard. There were deep pockets of 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:28.040 exhaustion under his brown eyes and well creased smile lines 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.840 around his lips. He wore a simple black suit with 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.160 no tie. Everything about the way he looked and the 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.319 way he dressed spoke of quiet devotion and humble service. 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.120 Here finally was a man of God. Not a pressed, 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.920 preening dandy like the pastor at her father's church, not 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.520 a hip, young pretender like the Baptist minister who had 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.200 given a speech on inclusion at her school last year. 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.199 Here was a real, road weary man of the Lord. 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.440 I know how you must feel right now, Sasha, he said. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.280 You're relieved. You never thought you'd make it this far. 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.320 You didn't know if you'd have the courage to take 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:01.800 the final leap of faith. But you have now, child, 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.400 and your soul is secure. Sasha melted. The knot of 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.600 anxiety that had been twisting in her guts suddenly untied itself. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.000 Her eyesight blurred, and she realized that she'd started to cry. 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.000 It was all she could do to look over to 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:18.040 Brother Andrew and whisper thank you. Together they drove to 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.960 a little, white walled suburban house, maybe five miles away 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.880 from the only home she had ever known. The car stopped, 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.000 but Brother Andrew gestured for her to stay in the 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.240 vehicle while he stepped out and knocked on the door. 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.120 Another man, shorter and balding, stepped out. They both hustled 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:34.360 back to the car, their eyes darting left and right. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:36.800 As soon as they made it inside, the car sped 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:39.640 off fast enough that the acceleration pushed Sasha back in 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:42.320 her seat. The new man sat across from her in 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.640 the autonomous car, second row of bench seats. He was older, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.480 in his fifties. If he hadn't taken any juven treatments, 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.760 he had tired eyes with deep bags beneath them. While 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.880 Brother Andrew radiated calm, self satisfaction, this man seemed nervous 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.560 and a little frantic. He clutched a small briefcase with 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:02.120 white knuckled hands. Sasha smiled in an unconscious attempt to 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:06.880 call him. He smiled back. Brother Andrew spoke, Miss Marian, 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.560 this is brother Brian. He's going to disable your deck. 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:11.480 It's the only way we can get you across the 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.040 border to our people in the Christian States. Brother Andrew 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.680 smiled and put a hand on Brother Brian's shoulder. The 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.240 other man took this queue to open up his suitcase. 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.280 He started to assemble something small, silver and intricate. Brother 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.320 Andrew kept speaking. All it would take is one phone 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.280 call from your parents or your school when the police 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.120 could spot your precise location from the GPS unit in 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.840 your deck. This car is a dead zone, so you're 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.080 safe inside it, but as soon as you exit, you'll 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.120 be back on the map, so we need to remove 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:43.040 your deck before that happens. Will it hurt? Sasha remembered 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.160 how it had felt when they had first implanted her deck, 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.160 like having a new tooth forcibly inserted into her jaw. 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:50.680 She'd been four or five at the time. Her head 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.840 had hurt for days. Brother Brian didn't look up from 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.480 his briefcase as he answered her. Yes, I've got a 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:00.960 topical anesthetic, but nothing stronger. It'll hurt. Soha nodded gravely. 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.200 She had anticipated this. A little pain was a small 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.520 price to pay to become one of God's elect few. 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.360 She thought of Paul and Silas stripped and beaten with 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.720 clubs on the orders of a heathen magistrate. God shows 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.960 his love through salvation. We show ours through sacrifice. The 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.400 memory of Pastor Mike's words helped ease her fears she'd 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.119 miss her deck, but Alexander had said there'd be replacements 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:26.160 in the heavenly Kingdom. In another minute, Brother Bryan had 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:29.160 finished assembling the tool. It looked like a cross between 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.600 a syringe and a handheld shot back. At Brother Andrew's urging, 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:34.640 she moved over to sit on the bench seat next 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:37.280 to him. Now lay across my lap an angle your 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.840 temple towards Brother Brian. A pang of fear flitted across 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.560 her heart. These were men of God, but they were 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:45.800 also men she didn't know, who were much older and 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.360 larger than her. She had to fight down the urge 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.440 to panic and flee your trusting these men to smuggle 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.880 you across a border. Dummy. She hesitated for a few 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.160 sweaty seconds, but eventually Sasha nodded and laid down on 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.000 Brother Andrew's lap. Her heart beat so loudly that she 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.560 could hear it crashing in her skull like ocean waves. 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.880 Brother Andrew put his strong hands on her. He tightened 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:10.200 his grip. He's holding me down, she realized, and although 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:12.480 he tried to restrain her in a comforting way, the 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.240 liquid mass of panic in her chest almost boiled over. 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.760 There was a sudden, sharp pain as Brother Brian plunged 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:20.960 the needle in through her temple, and then a dull, 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:25.520 throbbing feeling like a migraine. Sasha felt dizzy, disoriented, and 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:29.080 then nauseous in turns. She blacked out for a few seconds. 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.679 When she came back to herself, she realized she had 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.080 been vomiting. The floor of the car was coated in 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:36.439 the remains of her lunch. Some of it had gotten 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:40.399 on Brother Andrew's pants leg. Brother Brian looked disgusted, but 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.760 Brother Andrew was all smiles and comfort. Jesus, here's your 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.159 suffering sister. He knows what you are giving up in 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.000 his name. You will reap the dividends of this investment 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.879 in your soul. He helped her up and guided her 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.400 to the opposite bench, where she laid down and continued 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.920 to clutch her throbbing head. She drifted off or passed out, 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.320 and when she came to the interior of a car 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.639 had been scrubbed clean, leaving behind only a brown stain 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.399 and the lingering smell of sick and antiseptic. Sasha guessed 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:09.760 an hour or more had passed, although without her deck 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.160 it could have been more. They were in the woods now, 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:16.159 driving along a country road. Brother Andrew explained that they 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.679 were just a few minutes away from the border, and 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.359 almost as far as an automobile could take them. Soon 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.600 they'd stop in the town of Franklin, right on the 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:25.920 border of the UCS, and she'd meet the men who 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:27.920 would help her on the next stage of her journey. 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:32.080 The main border stations are blanketed with cameras, Brother Andrew said, 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:33.800 but we're right in the thick of the Blue Ridge 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.399 Mountains here. They can't watch every inch of them. We 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.800 have some coyotes here who know where the holes are. 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.879 One of them will spirit you across. Coyotes, Sasha asked. 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:45.880 It's an old term, he said, A coyote is someone 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.600 who helps smuggle people across national borders. Usually the phrase 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:53.240 has somewhat mercenary connotations. But the men we work with, 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.240 our true believers, soldiers in the Army of God. You 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.560 needn't fear Miss Marian. A few minutes later, they rolled 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.240 into Inkland. She'd never heard of the place before, but 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.400 a quick look around told her most of what she'd 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:07.240 needed to know. Most of the buildings were empty, the 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.280 storefronts were boarded up, The city hall was in disrepair, 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.440 and the skeleton of a once mighty Walmart supercenter dominated 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.280 the south side of town. There was clear fire damage 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.200 around its roof and entrances. Twenty or so years ago, 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.560 when the Civil War had been at its height, Franklin 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.320 had swollen with refugees. When the war had ended, the 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.880 refugees had gone elsewhere, and the city had been left 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:30.879 gutted and exhausted in their absence. The car stopped outside 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.639 of a public park. Sasha noticed that the grass was 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.479 overgrown and the sidewalks around it were cracked and broken. 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.520 She shared a quick prayer with brothers Andrew and Brian, 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:42.639 then they bid her farewell. The car pulled away and 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.320 Sasha was alone. She'd been told to find a park 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:48.080 bench and wait just a few minutes, so that's what 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:52.000 she did. A few minutes turned into ten, then fifteen, 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.760 then twenty. Sasha began to worry again. That was when 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:58.639 she really started to miss her deck Normally, she'd have 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:00.800 been able to catch up on the latest news from Zion, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.560 read one of her favorite issues of Revelator, and maybe 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.680 even touch base with Alexander. Without it, she only had 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:09.000 the throbbing pain in her head to keep her occupied. 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.120 Sasha's mind wandered to the rolling mountains on the horizon. 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.080 She'd never spent so much as a night out camping before. 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.280 The wildest animal she'd ever seen was a squirrel, and 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.399 there are bears out there that scared her more than 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.919 the prospect of being arrested, or even the fear of 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:26.720 what might happen to her nearer to the fighting. Dying 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.119 alone in a drone strike or from a sniper's bullet 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:31.640 would be quick and expected. Given where she was going, 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.119