WEBVTT - Chapters Six, Seven, & Eight 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:04.600 On April four, Dr Martin Luther King was shot and 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:08.039 killed in Memphis. A petty criminal named James Earl Ray 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:13.920 was arrested. Case closed right James Sylvy was upon for 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:17.720 the official story. Some of the evidence, as far as 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:21.680 I was concerned, did not match the circumstances. This is 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.720 the MLK tapes. The first episodes are available now. Listen 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.920 on the I Heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:33.120 you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome to our show. 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.320 I'm Zoe de Channel and I'm so excited to be 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:38.000 joined by my friends and cast Meats Hannah Simone and 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:41.800 Lamar and Morris to recap our hit television series New Girl. 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.200 Join us every Monday on the Welcome to Our Show podcast, 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.600 where we'll share behind the scenes stories of your favorite 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.400 New Girl episodes. Each week, we answer all your burning 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.440 questions like is there really a bear in every episode 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.400 of New Girl? Plus you'll hear hilarious stories like this 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.240 that was one of your thank you from Yeah Yeah, 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:07.080 I brought back a professional basketball players seven Yeah. Listen 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.000 to the Welcome to Our Show podcast on the I 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.520 Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:17.640 podcasts from Cavalry Audio comes the new true crime podcast 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.000 The Shadow Girls. I grew up near the banks of 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.600 the Green River and in the shadow of the killer 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:28.080 that bears its name. Prosecutors described him as a serial killer. Survived, 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.720 but this podcast isn't only about tracking down the killer. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.240 It's about the victims. We stayed in the woods. He 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.880 always liked to go into words. Listen to The Shadow 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:41.319 Girls on the I Heart Radio app, on Apple Podcasts, 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:50.920 or wherever you get your podcasts. Chapter six, Sasha, History 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.120 is a messy thing class. Even a question as simple 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.880 as when did the Second American Civil War begin doesn't 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:01.279 have a clear answer. Some scholars say the first shots 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.680 were fired during the failed Montana Seccession Movement of twenty forty. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.560 Others will name the Dallas Water Riots of one or 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:10.960 the bombing of the Diamond Buildings six months later by 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.760 leftist militants. You can make a good evidence based case 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.880 for any of these. Mister Dane was a good lecturer, 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.679 with a rich baritone voice and a habit of animating 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.240 his lectures with vibrant hand gestures. He was Sasha's favorite 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.320 teacher and one of her favorite people. Mister Dane was 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:29.600 a heathen, of course, but he was still a sweet man. 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.960 She appreciated his even handed perspective and his commitment to 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.160 the unbiased study of history. It broke her heart that 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.240 no one else in her Advanced Placement Continental history class 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.320 seemed to appreciate him. The other twenty four students stared 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.680 ahead with slackened jaws and unfocused eyes. They were all 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.120 deep in their decks, messaging friends, browsing snap bits, or 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:53.399 playing whatever game was popular right now. Decks were far 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.079 too entrenched in modern life for schools to force them 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.680 off during class time. Instead, the school filtered the WiFi 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:03.200 and forced students to download apps that restricted access during 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.720 school hours. This had led to a thriving underground trade 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.760 and apps that countered the school spyware and covertly lifted 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:13.040 the blocks. The district I T Team was locked in 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.040 a perpetual losing battle to spot and crack these programs. 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.959 But on a practical level, the teachers, like mister Dane, 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.360 just had to accept the intrusion. The students didn't ignore 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.200 him entirely, but very few of them gave him their 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.760 full attention. They didn't give anything their full attention. Really, 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.440 Most of her peers went through their days half reading 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.240 two or three conversations, playing games, and scrolling through several 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.600 social media feeds, even when they were out in the 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:42.760 world surrounded by people. Pastor Mike called it the death 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.200 of Joy. That was the name of the essay and 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:49.120 revelator that had first turned Sasha onto the heavenly Kingdom. 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.600 He'd railed against distraction culture, which he said not only 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.840 robbed mankind of a relationship with God, but it also 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:58.760 robs us of the little moments. The quiet joys of 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.160 living are drowned by a flood of data. It's a 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.120 mosquito bite on the human soul. And the masses have 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.200 convinced themselves that the abatement of discomfort from scratching this 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.680 itch is the same ashappiness. All around her classmates scratched 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.000 their itches while mister Dane lectured, he looked so lonely 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:19.680 up there, They all looked lonely. So mister Dane cleared 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:21.400 his throat in an attempt to pull at least a 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.000 few of his students out of their stupor. As we 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.200 close this unit, I'd like to ask you all a 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.440 simple question. What should we call the war that split 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.880 the United States? Your textbook calls it the Second American 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:35.680 Civil War. In the Northwest, and the Christian States they 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.920 call it the Revolution. By next Monday, I'd like each 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.440 of you to upload an essay arguing which name is 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:45.719 more appropriate one thousand words please. The bell rang. The 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.320 other students got up slowly in twos and threes and 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.080 made for the door. Sasha was one of the first up, 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:53.960 but mister Dane called to her before she reached the exit. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:58.479 Miss Marian, would you mind holding back a moment? Sasha stiffened. 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.960 She glanced involuntarily up to one of the government's propaganda 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.440 posters on the wall. It showed a young man with 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.800 a brightly colored backpack, surrounded by burnt out buildings in rubble. 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.200 A green rocket hung above him like the sword of Damocles, 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.000 an instant away from impact. Next to the young man 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:19.000 were the words think again, step back, Yes, sir, she asked. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.080 As she approached his desk. Mr Dane fixed her with 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.240 a kind smile. He looked around forty, although that was 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.040 no guarantee of anything. His eyes and lips were creased 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.200 with smile lines. Though she liked that about him. You 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.599 seemed a bit distracted today, Sasha that's not uncommon for 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.040 most of my students, he gave a slightly forced laugh. 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.760 But you're normally so engaged. I just wanted to make 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.800 sure everything's okay. Over the last year, Sasha had started 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:47.560 building up a stockpile of what she called defensive smiles. 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:50.120 She had one for when her parents were worried, another 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.479 for her few friends, and another for the school administrators. 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.720 The smiles were calculated to reassure everyone that she was 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:00.000 still normal Sasha, and she certainly wasn't planning to escap 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.640 ape to the heavenly Kingdom. But she'd never worked up 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.320 a smile from Mr Dane. She genuinely enjoyed his class, 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.520 so it hadn't seemed necessary. She just decided to go 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.400 with her friend smile and hope that worked. I'm okay, 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.480 I'm just you know, inspiration had her. The news today 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.799 is so scary. What's happening down in Texas. I'm worried. 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.480 Mr Dane visibly relaxed. Ah, yes, I can see why 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:27.960 you'd be troubled by that. I think it's taken everyone 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.040 a bit by surprise. He paused and struggled with his words. 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:35.200 I expect it must be somewhat more difficult for you 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:38.120 than the rest of the class. Being a Christian. Her 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.839 smile faltered a bit. She knew she was supposed to 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.400 act like one of the tame preachers the government trotted out, 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.000 the men and women whould claim Christianity was all about 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.520 peace and love. They'd say that the Lord's truth could 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.599 coexist with the equal truths of other faiths and with 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.480 the secular world of the am fed. That all felt 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.960 wrong to her, but a little irritation was worth avoiding suspicion. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.680 My faith is stronger than a handful of terrorists, she 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.360 said to mister Dane. There are a lot of Christians 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.640 in the secular forces. You know they'll win in the end, 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.400 won't they. Mister Dane's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.840 bored into hers. Sasha was more comfortable with eye contact 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.560 than most teens, but she found this deeply uncomfortable, invasive. 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.760 Even after several long seconds, he spoke, I fear it's 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.280 going to be a long, bloody fight before that happens. 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.320 We're very lucky to be insulated from all that madness, 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:31.400 you know, he sighed. An eleventh grader, However, a Jefferson 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.679 I was killed fighting in Dallas yesterday. The news just broke. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.160 Sasha hadn't been aware, but thank God for him and 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.120 his sacrifice. She thought. That's awful, She said, I can't 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.640 imagine what his parents must be going through. No, you can't, 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.080 he agreed, and then mister Dane broke eye contact. He 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.440 looked down at the ground, and his voice dropped an 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.240 octave as he asked, did you know I had a son? 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.920 Genuine surprise passed over Sasha's face. No, Sir, I didn't. 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.600 He shrugged and gave up on his smile. It wasn't 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.680 much more than a ghost now, anyway, I married young, 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:06.680 I was a dad at nineteen, and by the time 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:10.040 he was nineteen, the whole country was coming apart. He 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:12.080 reached down to his desk and picked up a small, 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:14.920 rather battered looking red button. It had the letters R 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.920 J printed in lower case letters across the front. Mister 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.960 Dane stared at it. Something twitched under his left eyelid. 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.240 He bit his upper lip. He was silent for a 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.200 long beat, and he swallowed and looked up at Sasha. 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.960 Do you know what this is? No, she said, reluctant 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.080 and pretty certain. She ought to have known in the 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.439 years leading up to the revolution, there were a lot 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:39.120 of different activist movements founded and spread by anonymous radicals. 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:43.840 They'd organized flashed demonstrations and coordinated direct action campaigns. The 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.439 pins were one sort of I D badge, so when 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:48.560 you showed up for a flashed demo, you could quickly 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.920 identify your comrades. He shook his head ruefully. It sounds 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.000 silly now. All I can say is, at the time 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.160 it made sense and it felt meaningful. The anonymous voice 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.920 I listened to was a guy named read John. He 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.880 had all these videos about history, politics. He explained the 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:05.480 whole world and what was wrong with it in a 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.920 way that just felt right. I started playing his stuff 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:11.840 for my boy Mikey when he was thirteen or fourteen. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.079 I just wanted him to know what was going on. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.280 I thought I was doing the right thing. Mister Dane's 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.079 eyes looked watery and heavy with the ghost of old tears. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:24.000 He seemed to have trouble keeping his voice steady. Mikey 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.080 grew up believing hard, and when the fighting broke out, 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:30.200 he was young and strong and so very ready to 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.600 fight for the world he believed we all deserved. Mister 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:35.559 Dane set the pen back on the desk with its 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:40.320 cover facing down. His eyes were red. He died in Denver, 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.800 mister Dane said, and his voice broke a little shot 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.000 through the head. When the National Guard pushed into Westminster. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.480 Sasha put a hand on mister Dane's shoulder. It was 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:54.400 an instinctive move, blessedly honest. She silently thanked God for 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.000 this moment of connection to the educator she so admired. 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.360 He smiled back at her, thank you. I I don't 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:01.920 mean for this to be a lecture. I don't think 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:05.000 those tend to work. Just he glanced back at the table. 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.640 Just be careful about putting your faith in charismatic men 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.760 and their ideas. I will, she said. A minute later, 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.720 as she left the classroom, a notification pip lit up 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.280 on the top right corner of her vision. She wink 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:21.800 clicked it and saw a message from brother Andrew bust 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:26.480 Stop twenty three a p m. The rest of the 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.240 day passed normally enough. In the afternoon, they had an 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.960 assembly about the suicide of a classmate. It was the 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.440 third this year. Principal Hardgrave delivered the same platitudes they'd 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.600 all heard a hundred times. There was a lot of 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.120 talk about suicide hotlines and chat rooms. Of all the 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:43.440 counseling services the school had available, Sasha knew none of 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.040 it would help. Almost twenty percent of teens in the 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.200 m FED would attempt suicide. Every year, that number ticked 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.400 up a few tenths of a percent, and the government 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.920 had no idea how to stop it. Pastor Mike blamed 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.839 the rash of suicides on the emptiness of secular life, 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:00.720 the spiritual whole at the center of capitalism and the 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.800 self worship had fed. Sasha thought he'd hit that right 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.160 on the money. Even the United Christian States still engaged 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.680 in global capitalism and doing so that a dark God 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.280 in permanent opposition to the Lord Almighty. Pastor Mike. Again, 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.600 she knew Principal hargraves lectures were pointless, but she sat 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.760 through the assembly and gave the right smiles to the 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:22.280 right people. The rest of the day, she focused on 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.000 her studies as best she could, despite the growing anxiety 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:28.160 in her gut. Two weeks ago, she'd read a Pastor 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.760 Mike article and revelator, don't talk yourself out of Heaven. 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.040 It had clearly been written for the conflicted faithful, just 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.520 like her. I've received messages from hundreds of you who 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.520 say I'd love to open myself up to martyrdom. But 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.239 I'm a doctor, or a police officer, or an engineer, 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.679 and I think I can do more to glorify God 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.120 where I am right now. Brothers and sisters, these are 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.920 the doubts of the serpent. Don't be fooled. No one 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.280 stays in comfort because they want to bring glory to 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.319 the Almighty. Our Lord does not speak to us from 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.520 comfortable places. He spoke to Moses in a desolate desert, 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.360 from a burning bush. He delivered his greatest sermon atop 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.800 a mountain. Jehovah wants our souls to be so on 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.440 fire with devotion that our own lives mean nothing before 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.680 his flame. The heavenly Kingdom is that cleansing flame. What 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.800 a gift it is here now in your lifetime. What 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:19.359 a tragedy it would be to miss this chance at salvation. 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.000 She recited that passage again and again throughout what she 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.440 now knew would be her last day at school. The 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.040 words steadied her as she waved goodbye to mister Dane 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:30.040 at the end of the day. These are the doubts 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.480 of the serpent. They calmed her when she looked into 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.839 her backpack, which held the small go back she'd put 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.440 together that morning. It was just a change of clothes 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.960 and a handful of hygiene items that seemed woefully inadequate, 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:45.320 but anything more would have looked suspicious. Leaving, I'm leaving. 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.240 It was only now, on the cusp of leaving, that 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.000 Sasha realized how much she was going to miss movie 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:54.439 night with her friends. Central heating in the winter, reliable 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.640 internet access. Our Lord does not speak to us from 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.560 comfortable places. It took her an embarrass same amount of 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:02.680 time to find the bus stop. She was scared to 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:04.720 use her deck. She'd shut it off as soon as 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.240 she'd left school, and she didn't know the city bus 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.079 system very well. She'd taken busses to school for years, 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.600 but her parents car had always driven her around the city. 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.640 She was ashamed of how anxious she felt about riding 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.120 a city bus. Here she was on her way to 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.480 a war zone and possible martyrdom, scared of public transit. 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.200 Be strong and courageous and do the work. She recited 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.360 David's advice to Solomon, do not be afraid or discouraged. 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.560 For the Lord God, My God is with you. That 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.800 helped a little. Thinking of Alexander's smile, his green eyes, 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.000 and the strong lines of his jaw helped more. Sasha 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.840 didn't like admitting that to herself it felt too carnal, 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:44.120 almost sacrilegious, but she knew that what mattered to God 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.000 were her actions. Even if her flight to Zion wasn't 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.679 done with a completely pure heart, God would forgive her 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.679 her sacrifice to build the new Jerusalem. What outweigh the 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.520 sinful part of her mind that couldn't stop imagining how 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.880 Alexander's strong arms would feel when they finally wrapped around her. 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:03.080 She waited at stop twenty three. A four thirty came 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.320 and went by four five pm, her chest burned with 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.559 barely restrained panic. She was sure the people passing by 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.480 all knew her secret plans. A pair of police officers 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.800 passed her at one point. One of them, a woman 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.800 not much older than Sasha, flashed her a smile. For 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:19.920 a long time, she was convinced it had been a 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.960 sign that her communics had been intercepted and the police 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.800 or the FBI were onto her plan. But the police 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.320 didn't come to stop her, and after a quarter hour 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.120 that felt like days. A brown sedan rolled up to 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.360 the bus stop, its window peeled down, and Sasha locked 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:38.200 eyes with a careworn young man in the back. Sasha Marian. 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:42.520 He asked, yes, She said, are you brother Andrew? As 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:44.640 I was with Moses, so will I be with thee. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.120 That was the pass phrase Alexander had told her to expect. 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.640 It was all Sasha could do to stop from bawling 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:54.560 right then and there she got in the car. The 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.120 man inside was exactly what she'd have expected of a 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.480 man and brother Andrew's profession. He had long, aw colored 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.040 hair and a ragged beard. There were deep pockets of 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.280 exhaustion under his brown eyes and well creased smile lines 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.080 around his lips. He wore a simple black suit with 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.440 no tie. Everything about the way he looked and the 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.360 way he dressed spoke of quiet devotion and humble service. Here, 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:19.160 finally was a man of God. Not oppressed, preening dandy 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.600 like the pastor at her father's church, not a hip 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.040 young pretender like the Baptist minister who had given a 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.320 speech on inclusion at her school last year. Here was 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.480 a real road weary man of the Lord. I know 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.720 how you must feel right now, Sasha, He said, you're relieved. 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.200 You never thought you'd make it this far. You didn't 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:37.960 know if you'd have the courage to take the final 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.480 leap of faith. But you have now, child, and your 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.320 soul is secure. Sasha melted. The knot of anxiety that 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.320 had been twisting in her guts suddenly untied itself. Her 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.280 eyesight blurred, and she realized that she'd started to cry. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:52.280 It was all she could do to look over to 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:56.320 brother Andrew and whisper thank you. Together they drove to 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.240 a little, white walled suburban house, maybe five miles away 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.120 from the only home she had ever known. The car stopped, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.280 but Brother Andrew gestured for her to stay in the 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:06.520 vehicle while he stepped out and knocked on the door. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.400 Another man, shorter and balding, stepped out. They both hustled 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:12.640 back to the car, their eyes darting left and right. 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.040 As soon as they made it inside, the car sped 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:17.880 off fast enough that the acceleration pushed Sasha back in 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:20.560 her seat. The new man sat across from her in 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.920 the autonomous car second row of bench seats. He was older, 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.760 in his fifties. If he hadn't taken any juven treatments. 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:30.000 He had tired eyes with deep bags beneath them. While 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:34.160 Brother Andrew radiated calm self satisfaction, this man seemed nervous 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.840 and a little frantic. He clutched a small briefcase with 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.360 white knuckled hands. Sasha smiled in an unconscious attempt to 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:45.120 call him. He smiled back. Brother Andrew spoke, Miss Marian, 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.840 this is Brother Brian. He's going to disable your deck. 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.720 It's the only way we can get you across the 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.240 border to our people in the Christian States. Brother Andrew 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:55.960 smiled and put a hand on Brother Brian's shoulder. The 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.480 other man took this cue to open up his suitcase. 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.520 He started to assemble something small, silver and intricate. Brother 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.600 Andrew kept speaking. All it would take is one phone 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:07.560 call from your parents or your school when the police 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.359 could spot your precise location from the GPS unit in 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.120 your deck. This car is a dead zone, so you're 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.320 safe inside it, but as soon as you exit, you'll 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:17.359 be back on the map, so we need to remove 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.320 your deck before that happens. Will it hurt? Sasha remembered 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.440 how it had felt when they'd first implanted her deck, 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.400 like having a new tooth. Forcibly inserted into her jaw. 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:28.960 She'd been four or five at the time. Her head 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.120 had hurt for days. Brother Bryan didn't look up from 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.720 his briefcase as he answered her. Yes, I've got a 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:39.199 topical anesthetic, but nothing stronger. It'll hurt. Sasha nodded gravely. 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.440 She had anticipated this. A little pain was a small 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:44.760 price to pay to become one of God's elect few. 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.639 She thought of Paul and Silas stripped and beaten with 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.000 clubs on the orders of a heathen magistrate. God shows 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:55.199 his love through salvation. We show ours through sacrifice. The 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.639 memory of Pastor Mike's words helped ease her fears she'd 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.359 miss her deck, but Alexander had said there'd be replacements 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.439 in the Heavenly Kingdom. In another minute, Brother Brian had 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.439 finished assembling the tool. It looked like a cross between 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.840 a syringe and a handheld shot back. At Brother Andrew's urging, 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:12.920 she moved over to sit on the bench seat next 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.560 to him. Now lay across my lap an angle your 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:19.119 temple towards Brother Brian. A pang of fear flitted across 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:21.800 her heart. These were men of God, but they were 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.040 also men she didn't know who were much older and 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.600 larger than her. She had to fight down the urge 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.280 to panic and flee. You were trusting these men to 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.919 smuggle you across a border, dummy. She hesitated for a 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.320 few sweaty seconds, but eventually Sasha nodded and laid down 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.159 on Brother Andrew's lap. Her heart beat so loudly that 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:41.840 she could hear it crashing in her skull like ocean waves. 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.120 Brother Andrew put his strong hands on her. He tightened 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.480 his grip. He's holding me down, she realized, and although 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:50.720 he tried to restrain her in a comforting way, the 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.520 liquid mass of panic in her chest almost boiled over. 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.000 There was a sudden, sharp pain as Brother Brian plunged 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.200 the needle in through her temple, and then a dull 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:03.800 throbbing feet like a migraine. Sasha felt dizzy, disoriented, and 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:07.360 then nauseous. In turns, she blacked out for a few seconds. 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.959 When she came back to herself, she realized she had 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.320 been vomiting. The floor of the car was coated in 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:14.680 the remains of her lunch. Some of it had gotten 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.679 on Brother Andrew's pants leg. Brother Bryan looked disgusted, but 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.040 Brother Andrew was all smiles and comfort. Jesus, here's your 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.439 suffering sister. He knows what you are giving up in 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.240 His name. You will reap the dividends of this investment 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.119 in your soul. He helped her up and guided her 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.680 to the opposite bench, where she laid down and continued 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.240 to clutch her throbbing head. She drifted off or passed out, 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:38.560 and when she came to, the interior of the car 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.879 had been scrubbed clean, leaving behind only a brown stain 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.679 and the lingering smell of sick and antiseptic. Sasha guessed 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.000 an hour or more had passed, although without her deck 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.440 it could have been more. They were in the woods now, 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:54.439 driving along a country road. Brother Andrew explained that they 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:56.960 were just a few minutes away from the border, and 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.560 almost as far as an automobile could take them. Soon 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.840 they'd up in the town of Franklin, right on the 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.159 border of the UCS, and she'd meet the men who 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.160 would help her on the next stage of her journey. 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:10.320 The main border stations are blanketed with cameras, Brother Andrew said, 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:12.040 but we're right in the thick of the Blue Ridge 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:14.639 mountains here. They can't watch every inch of them. We 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:17.040 have some coyotes here who know where the holes are. 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:21.159 One of them will spirit you across coyotes, Sasha asked, 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.120 it's an old term, he said, A coyote is someone 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:27.840 who helps smuggle people across national borders. Usually the phrase 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.520 has somewhat mercenary connotations. But the men we work with, 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.520 our true believers, soldiers in the Army of God. You 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.880 needn't fear, miss Marian. A few minutes later, they rolled 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:40.480 into Franklin. She'd never heard of the place before, but 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:42.640 a quick look around told her most of what she'd 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.480 needed to know. Most of the buildings were empty, The 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.520 storefronts were boarded up. The city hall was in disrepair, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:51.680