Last Chapter: “Oh, he’s going to leave Forsyth? What about their people?” Ariel asked, not understanding.

“I told you they wouldn’t last long,” Lincoln said, sarcastically.

Ariel ignored him, “Well, I’m sure they’ll figure everything out. Thank you so much for your hospitality, but we’ll be on our way shortly.”

“Why won’t you stay a few days,” Reed proposed. “We have plenty of food for just two more people, it’d be a shame for it all to go to waste.”

“No, it’s fine. We don’t want to be a bother.”

“I insist,” Reed smiled. 

Savannah, Georgia

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Morning - Apocalypse Month 2

“Wake up, it’s time for breakfast,” Dee announced from the other side of the door. “Be in the mess hall in 20 minutes.”

Ariel was already out of her bed and dressed, getting ready for a new day. Another knock came at her door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Ariel groaned.

“No, it’s me, Lincoln.”

“Oh,” Ariel said, opening the door.

“Thank you for letting me in, it seems like you were already annoyed with someone else here?” Lincoln questioned as he sat on her bed. It was comfy, to say the least.

“I just thought that Dee was rushing me, that’s all.”

 “Ah, yea he came to my quarters too. Since I got formalities out of the way, why didn’t we just leave and find somewhere else to stay?” Lincoln asked, looking at her like she was insane.

“We need to find out what’s happening out in the world other than the farm, right? So, why not just stay here for a bit. Also, he insisted,” Ariel said looking in the mirror, dusting herself off.

“You could’ve denied that insist.”

“Something told me he wouldn’t have accepted us denying him.”

“Our mission was to find some recruits and leave, Ariel. Not join a church.”

“You’re the one who made us do the tour!” Ariel hissed.

Lincoln sighed, “How are we going to find other survivors if we’re stuck here?”

“We’ll find a way… maybe there’s still some groups of people in the city that need our help, if at all.”

“Let’s hope so. These people give me the heebie-jeebies.”

Entering the mess hall had the same energy as last time, everyone sat in their respective seats and color-coded attire. The sun allowed a great deal of light to enter the room liven-ing it up as people talked, ate, and laughed in the mess hall. 

“Why does everyone sit separately?” Ariel asked Lincoln.

“Hell if I know.”

Ariel and Lincoln made it to the kitchen line and got their food. Most people who sat down were staring at the two of them, not in a bad way but not in a good way either. As if a pack of wolves was studying strays and seeing if they were trustworthy. After getting their food, Dee waved them over. “Hey, guys! How’d you sleep last night?”

“Great, thanks for asking,” Ariel smiled.

“No problem. I see the Archbishop has gotten you to stay over the night.”

“Yea, he’s really good at convincing,” Ariel lied.

“Yes, he is! He saved most of the people’s lives here. I owe that man my life.”

“He saved your life?”

Dee nodded, “He saved almost everyone’s life here. Savannah became Hell after the Second Coming.” Dee pointed to the men in regular clothing, some of them being tattered. “He even saved them during it, stragglers who weren’t apart of the church until now.”

“Speaking of, why is everyone separated from each other?” Lincoln asked.

“So, people know their place,” Dee said matter-of-factly.

“Know their place?” Lincoln questioned, his stance becoming somewhat defensive.

“Exactamundo, my friend. We are all under a hierarchy in God’s light and must follow the ways of the church and it’s holy scripture.”

“... and who taught you that?” Ariel asked, looking around at the various people eating compared to the Archbishop.

“Well, Archbishop, of course.”

“Uh-huh,” Lincoln glanced at Ariel in worry.

“And, what exactly are their place, may I ask?” Ariel questioned.

“Workers, commoners, laborers, whatever you wanna call them.”

“Oh… that’s interesting.”

“What? Do you find that there is a problem with our ways?” Dee asked defensively.

“No, no! It’s good to know others morals and understand them, we’re just curious people is all,” Ariel laughed nervously. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be heading out now.” 

“Leaving so soon?”

“No, just need to go look for something. We’ll be back by sundown.”

“Ah, then I’d have to tell the Archbishop!” Dee laughed. “Just kidding! But, do be wary, there are still people out there who only want to cause harm.”

“Trust me, we know.” Ariel sighed, pointing to her bow.

…

Ariel and Lincoln both took a look around the city looking for some type of answer to what they were looking for, some kind of help. Trotting on horseback, they eventually made it to the historical museum of this city.

“There could be something worthwhile in here, my queen,” Lincoln said looking up at the big sign of the building.

“Again with the queen,” Ariel grumbled, dismounting from her horse.

“At this point, it’s just second-nature,” Lincoln admitted, “Besides, your fit to be one.”

“We’re not having this conversation again, Lincoln. You know how I feel about that.”

“You’re going to have to accept it at some point,”

“I hope that point is at my tomb.” Ariel opened the door to the standing building. The museum was eerily empty, the sound of the door opening bounced off the walls, and small animals scurried from the light.

“Well, this place hasn’t been used in quite a bit, eh?”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” 

“Holy shit!” Lincoln screamed.

“What?”

“Is that the bench from Forrest Gump!?”

“You can’t be serious right now?” Ariel stood there annoyed.

“Come on, it’s the bench from the movie!” Lincoln smiled like a little kid, “How come you aren’t fascinated by this?”

“Because it’s an overhyped movie, Lincoln. Now, can we get back on task? The bench isn’t going to help us with anything.”

“You’re no fun at all! This was the movie!”

“I wasn’t even conceived yet when this movie came out,”

“Whatever, this old man disagrees,”

After bickering they continued about the museum, finding out interesting facts about the city and multiple pictures within it. Reaching to the back, they saw a long wooden carriage.

“Is that what I think it is?” Ariel asked.

“The answer to our prayers? Hell yea!” Lincoln walked up to the carriage and examined it, “It could work. Our horses could pull it and we’d be able to carry more stuff around, maybe even people.”

“That would make everything so much easier,”

“Yes, it would.” Lincoln agreed, “You think that crazy church is gonna care?”

“Why would they?”

“Well, technically it’s theirs since they kind of own this town.”

“Finders keepers, and besides, if they do what’re they gonna do about it? We have my bow and your spear skills.”

“Against an entire church congregation, Ariel? Be realistic. Let’s keep this a secret until we leave tomorrow,”

“Tomorrow, we still haven’t recruited anyone.”

“We’re not going to find anyone here to recruit. I promise you, let’s cut our losses and head back home.”

“Fine, just help me with this giant carriage, please?”

After about an hour or so they were able to get the carriage up and out of the museum, attaching it to the horses with lead and searching around for anything else that’ll come in handy.

“Wait,” Ariel stopped the horses. “Look over there. It’s a bookstore.”

“So what?” Lincoln asked.

“We have kids that need to be educated and us too. Those books in there will help us more than you’ll ever know, Lincoln.”

“Fine, let’s grab what we can and get back to the church before it gets dark.”

…

Coming back to the church, they had set the carriage a few blocks ahead in the direction of the Mikael farm. Now, they'd returned just before the sun had gone completely down, opening the doors when everyone had just given grace. Reed being followed by his posse of clergymen as he stood up and made his way to the two foreigners. ‘Like some weird version of  The Entourage’, Ariel thought.

“Ah, you’ve made it back in time for dinner,” Archbishop Reed smiled.

“Yes, Mr.Reed, we have,” Ariel said. “What’s all this?”

“Please just call me Archbishop,” Archbishop said. “But, we’re just doing a little special dinner for you two since you’re our guests. We should always treat strangers with the utmost respect and dignity, no?”

“We should… Archbishop,” Ariel agreed.

“Great, now eat up! Don’t want the food to go cold now do we?”

“No, sir.”

They once again sat in their respective seats, everyone eating what was given to them. The sun had finally set and the moon rose, the candles lit up the room barely enough to engulf it. Then stood the archbishop, “Everyone I would like to make a toast,” He announced. “We stand here today, in faith! Every single one of you has worked your hardest to make the end of times bearable and for that I am thankful!”

A loud cheer came from the clergy side of the mess hall, only small cheers on the other side. Must be tired, Ariel thought.

“Together, we’ll make it even further and bring more people into God’s light!” Archbishop continued, “But, we still have much to do! My children, we will soon be having a bigger congregation as more people come south.”

“What exactly did that letter say?” Lincoln asked.

Ariel shrugged, “I never thought to ask.”

Lincoln sighed and sat back as the man continued his speech, looking around uneasily. Ariel excused herself to go outside, getting tired of hearing the long and boring speech of the Archbishop as he continued to reel in his herd with every word he spoke. Looking up at the stars, Ariel realized what Lau meant when she said the sky was clearer. The stars were brighter and more plentiful than before, including the moon in its full glory. Then someone tapped her shoulder.

Ariel let out a quick scream before turning her head to see a woman behind her. She was about an inch shorter than her, with long black hair and pale skin, her face went red as the loud noise Ariel had let out startled her. “Be quiet before someone hears you!” She warned.

“You don’t just sneak up on people like that,” Ariel said, getting a closer look she realized that she was one of the ‘commoners’ as Dee put.

“We need your help,” The woman pleaded.

“We?”

“Not everyone in this congregation is happy, especially the ones who have to work all day to keep the small garden ready and go out and scavenge.”

“Oh that sounds horrible,” Ariel gasped, sympathizing with the rest.

“We can’t keep working like this. It’s hard to do in these harsh conditions and especially getting bare minimum of meals. He’s working us like dogs. Please help us,” She cried.

“Okay, okay. I will,” Ariel reassured. “But, why won’t you guys just leave yourselves.”

“We have nowhere else to go. Out there is scary and he tells us if we leave, we’ll just die like the rest of them.”

“How many of you are there?”

“There’s about seventy of us who can’t take it anymore. We’ve been thinking of a way out of here and we think you’re our ticket.”

“Why us?” Ariel stepped back, surprised.

“We overheard you guys speaking about another place back where you’re from and we want to go there. Seems like it’s actually fair.”

“Alright, but you’re going to have to work just as hard. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Now to conrfont the Archbishop himself."