Heathen Wall/Prologue

Next chapter: Chapter One

* Ashley

Others:

* Sawyer

* Jason

* Samantha Burrab

Ashley stood, starting at the old, dusty gears and conveyor belts in the Scientists' secret shelter, remembering....

She had been just fourteen when it had happened, a stupid, hopeful, moony-eyed child. Her fist unconsciously clenched as she mulled over it, angry at herself ever being so naive and delusional. She closed her eyes and let the memory flow through her, the pain of it being less than she deserved.

*First came the fear, the people in suits and black cats patrolling the streets, and, all in a blur, the moony-eyed twelve year old was in a car, driving at what she knew was well over the speed limit. She asked what was going on, which was met with harsh shushing.*

*Then came the not-knowing. They arrived at what looked like an abandoned factory, and she saw that there were a few other cars there. Ashley and her family walked in, and she recognized some of her mother's friend group. Nothing made sense. None of what was going on was familiar in the slightest, except for the people in the factory, and why were they here? Was it a party? After all, she didn't know most of the friend group's birthdays. But why the people in black? Why the cars? Why here? Why, why, why, why, why? It all tumbled through her head so fast that she couldn't ask any of those questions, and besides, she was too terrified to say anything anyway.*

*Then came the anger. They adults were all talking to each other in hushed voices, as if this was secret. As if she was somehow lower than them, like she had done something that made her not deserve to know. She DID deserve to know. She tapped the shoulder of one of her mom's friends, as her mom was busy talking.*

*"What's happening?"*

*"Shhhh. We all need to be quiet. This is very stressful for all of us."*

*She was so shocked by this that she was left speechless.*

But WHY is it stressful? What the fuck is happening? I deserve to know as much as you do, bitch! You aren't special! *She thought all at once. The expression on her face must have given something away, because the person she was talking to frowned.*

*She left, realising that it was hopeless. There was no information to be gathered.*

*She walked out of the room, taking advantage of the fact that no one was noticing her. She found a room filled with gears and conveyor belts.*

*Later that day, she left the room and someone came up to her. Their face was hidden by a big hoodie.*

*"Don't leave this building." They said. The voice sounded masculine. "We will send one person a day to get crop seeds from stores, because we can't work if we want to stay hidden. We will use the money we still have to buy crop gardens."*

*She nodded,* and didn't realize that she nodded in real life.

Then a flash of events in a blur.

*A few days later, it was announced that all non-Christians and queer people were to be put over a wall somewhere in the very north of the land mass that contained Europe, Asia, and Africa.*

*Two days after that, the first person was sent out to get seeds, wearing the same hoodie that the masculine-voiced one had. But this one was shorter, and had a decidedly bigger chest. Every other day, someone went out and always wore that same hoodie. It was smart, they wouldn't be recognized.*

*The big outward atheists, like the YouTubers and social media posters, had been captured right away. This was told to them a few months after the first day at the factory.*

*She was sure there were other Scientist encampments around the country, not just the northwestern side of Washington. She just didn't know where.*

*A few weeks later, it was announced that the Internet had been shut down, presumably to keep the logical arguments against religion out of people's realm of knowledge.*

The time between events blurred as her mind ticked from one development to the next.

*Their cotton plants started to produce the cotton, they wove clothes from it.*

*One person was sent out to sell the clothes, and came back every other week to give the money to the Scientists and get more clothes to sell.*

*No more cell phone service. All of the providers had shut down.*

*Someone was sent in the hoodie to get walkie talkies for half of them. The next day a different person with the other half.*

The last one came crystal clear. *Three months ago, exactly.*

*A determined yet exhausted attempt to open the door, which was locked, was what the noise sounded like. There was certainly banging and scraping, then more and more. She was in the main room, where the only door was located. Everyone in the room exchanged looks that all meant the same thing: "Should we?"*

*The banging and scraping got quieter and lower on the door. It sounded like the one trying to get in was getting exhausted.*

*Everyone in the room looked at Sawyer, a large, muscular man who was also quite intelligent and good at making decisions. He nodded, and grabbed a sharpened rock "knife". He carefully made his way to the door, all eyes following him, "knife" in hand. He grabbed the rusty handle and slowly opened the door.*

*What was on the other side was a woman, looking about 17 or 18 years of age, on her hands and knees, panting. Her black, long-sleeved shirt and black leggings were torn, and the skin revealed be the tears was scraped in some places, scratched and bleeding in others, scabbed over in the rest. Her face was covered in mud, stciks and twigs, scrapes, and dried blood, and the places where skin showed, it was bright red. Her hair was muddy and riddled with sticks, twigs, and leaves, and it looked brown, although it was hard to because of the mess. But the shape of her face... it was perfect. Ashley could hardly tell, but somehow she just... knew. She knew that this woman was beautiful. She knew that she wanted to know this woman's story, even more than she usually wanted to know as much as possible.*

*Everyone in the room looked concerned or distrustful, and a few managed to look both.*

*Sawyer was one of those few.*

*"Who are you?" He asked, his voice unreadable.*

*She looked up, and it looked like that was the limit of what she could bear.*

*She spoke, her voice raspy and breathy, but sounding like it had once been smooth and fluid. Barely a wisper.*

*"Water. Please. Need. Water." The woman collapsed to her elbows, head down, arched back heaving.*

*Sawyer nodded at someone that moved too quickly for Ashley to see who it was. He went to the filtered river water chamber and picked up the bucket. He scooped out as much as it could hold and briskly but carefully took it over to the woman and placed it in front of her. He backed up a few feet, arms bent at an angle so that he could tackle her if she tried anything.*

*She lifted the front half of her body, everything shaking, looked at the bucket, and swiftly shoved her face into it, slurping and gasping. She took her face out, releif painted all over it. She took the bucket in her hands and began drinking it like a glass of water, some of it spilling onto her face and hair, washing it slightly. After what seemed like an eternity, she put it down, and it was clearly empty by the sound it made.*

*Ashley saw that she had been right. The woman's face was beautiful, her cheekbones were defined just enough, the eyebrows were just the right size, everything was perfect.*

Do I, am I... no. Arrgh. Please no. Really? Great. Fucking awesome. Makes my life SO much easier. *Ashley thought.*

*Sawyer cleared his throat. "Who are you?"*

*She looked at him. "Who are- no, you're in hiding- no, could be- so who- could lie- but how- they- before- no. I-I'm Samantha. Samantha Burrab. Ahem."*

Of course her stupid voice is beautiful. Why? STUPID SHITTY HORMONES. I HATE YOU! Screw you all! *Her nose wrinkled in anger, but noboby, including Ashley, noticed.*

*"You a beleiver?" Sawyer asked, adjusting the "knife" in his hand.*

*Everyone stared at Samantha, tense. Ready to never release her if she was, maybe deconvert her, but never be cruel to her. If she could never be convinced, they would still care for her, but always watch her so she didn't escape. It looked like she had escaped once already.*

*I*could watch her. NO NO SHUT UP SHUT UP I DON'T WANT THIS I'M NOT I'M NOT NO NO NO keep telling yourself that-

*Samantha opened her mouth, then closed it.*

*"NuhYeeeaaaN..."*

*Her mouth opened and closed again. Her mind was clearly racing.*

SHUT THE FUCK UP just admit it NO EVEN IF I AM WHCH I'M NOT SHE ALMOST DEFINETELY ISN'T SO SHUT UP RIGHT NOW if there was no religious leader I could have someone by now-

*Sawyer cocked his head. "We can't let you go regardless. Just tell us the truth, and we'll trust you faster."*

NO STOP BEING A HOPEFUL STUPID CHILD YOU WILL NEVER UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT BURNS TO THE GROUND AND GROVELS AT MY FEET WHILE BEING BEATEN TO DEATH WITH FOSSILS AND-

*Samantha's eyes gleamed with fear.*

*"N-No. No. I'm not."*

*If Ashley had to describe Samntha's face at that moment, she would have said "Imagine and exhausted person just had a tremendous weight lifted off her shoulders, but the one who lifted it off was a bloodthirsty cyclops staring into her soul, and she wasn't sure whether the cyclops might actually be trustworthy."*

SUCKED INTO A BLACK HOLE AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE AND BEING EXPLODED IN A BIG BANG WITHIN THAT BLACK HOLE damn calm the hell down DO YOU SEE WHAT THIS IS NOW yes now calm SHUT UP YOU CALM DOWN AND SHUT UP--

*Sawyer looked releived at that moment, and the tention was lifted off the room.*

*"She could be lying." Said the man who had handed her the bucket.*

*A few people nodded.*

*"We have to watch her, make sure she doesn't give us away." Said Sawyer. He pointed at Jason. "You. Take the first watch."*

*Jason nodded. "Yes, sir."*

*Sawyer looked up at the skylight.*

*"It's getting dark. Get her a cotton mat and bring it to the corner. Everyone else, go to the sleeping chamber at your leisure. I'm going now."*

*Gradually, they trusted her more and more.*

*Two weeks ago, she was allowed in the sleeping chambers with everyone else.*

"Oi, Ashely! Dinner!" Ashely opened her eyes, yanked out of her mind.

"One sec, Jason!" She called. She took a moment to gaze at the old, abandoned machinery. The room she had fled to those two years ago, the first night here.

She followed about 20 feet behind Jason, to the dining halls. The "Samantha stress" had caused a buzz, and the past two weeks she had been on cotton duty.

Tonight, she would come out. Jason had come out four months ago, and there had been significantly less stress then. Now, she didn't know how anyone would react.

Especially... her.

Ashley hated herself more than ever.