The Old Man in the Chapel

The Old Man in the Chapel is a short story about two boys running away from Eurasian persecution, during the Eurasian invasion of America, as Eurasian soldiers close in on their home city of Portland.

## Story

Mathias and Connor were running out of breath. Their home city of Portland had fallen to the Eurasians, and they knew that they would be persecuted. The Eurasians had managed to gather a database of every undesirable in America by logging into the Free Internet and looking through web records, social media profiles, and browser histories. And now, they had been marked.

They had been running for a while now, and now they were exhausted, they stopped, laid their hands on their knees, and tried to catch their breath. They didn't know if the Eurasians were still after them, no matter how fast they ran, the Eurasians had armored vehicles.

"We need to find a place to hide, Mathias." Connor said.

They were now somewhere in the East of Portland, much of the city had either evacuated or locked down in their homes. But they, they didn't have something like that, they had no home, not since the university had been seized by the Eurasians. They came up to a building; "St George Antiochian Orthodox Church".

"The Christians are supposed to help people in need, right?" Mathias asked.

"Not unless they're one of those goddamn Evangelicals or their 3rd Waver cultists." Connor sneered. "But this doesn't look like one of those awful churches."

"Reminds me of one of the nicer churches, the Mainliners, I think they were called," Mathias said. "Shame those seemed to have disappeared when I was little."

"Or one of the Catholic churches," Connor suggested.

They went inside, they were greeted by a white-bearded man in black robes. He greeted them in a foreign language they didn't understand. Mathias and Connor went to the front bench, in front of the cross, and to fit in, they pretended to pray, bending their heads down and clasping their hands together.

"That's not how you pray", a young man to their right said. He was wearing a white shirt and holding a miniature Bible. "You're praying like a Buddhist. Here, let me help."

The young man showed them how to pray, by crossing the fingers with one another. Connor and Mathias couldn't really care less, they were only pretending to pray anyway.

"What does it matter if they pray the right way or not, so long as your God hears them?" a Hispanic looking lady asked, to which the young man didn't seem to have a response.

Then, Connor and Mathias heard the thing they were fearing most. Footsteps, many and uniform, outside their door. They knew it wasn't the Americans, they had left many hours ago. These were the Eurasians.

The priest in robes seemed to react immediately, escorting everything to a hidden door in a remote area of the church, and sending them down a long flight of stairs. In the underground chamber was even more people. Connor and Mathias got a good look at all of them.

They recognized one as a Jewish rabbi, a black woman, and a white man they recognized as an unemployed plumber. The man with a white shirt and a Bible joined them from upstairs, and so did the Hispanic looking lady.

They could hear the whispers of the black robed man upstairs, they had heard that the Eurasians had begun persecuting other Christian groups, and feared that the man in the black robes would be next. But nothing happened, there was a conversation, the door was shut, and the man in the black robes came downstairs.

"It's alright, I convinced them there was no one here," the man in the black robes said.

"W-wait, so you're Russian Orthodox?" Connor stammered. He had heard tales of the Black Church of Russia, which somehow were even more socially conservative than the evangelicals at home. He suddenly felt a great bit of unease, like he was now in the most dangerous place a man could be.

The man in the black robes nodded. "Well, Greek Orthodox, actually. I could explain the differences, but for our purposes, I am what you would call "Eastern Orthodox.""

"Aren't you with the Eurasians?" the Hispanic women asked. "Why didn't you turn us in?"

"My loyalty is to God, not to Moscow, as much as they may wish that would change." the man in the black robes said.

For many days, they would stay in the church. They found out about the stories of the people staying, and they would have frequent arguments, as they came from all different walks of life. But they would all go silent when the boots marched above their heads.

The man in a white shirt was a evangelical, who had fled east as his home church in the West was burned down, and they began persecuting Protestants. The Hispanic lady was a former business owner, though she had fled east like the rest of them. The rabbi came from the south, from a synagogue they couldn't pronounce the name of. The plumber was now unemployed, his job taken from him by the machines. The black woman had been poor all her life, which she blamed on the poor race relations fostered in America, and had been subject to much abuse from law enforcement.

The man in the black robes himself was amicable and friendly, he was a devout Christian, yes, but he put the preservation of human life above all else. Despite holding a few rituals with the others, he never tried to push his faith onto others.

Connor and Mathias, they themselves were atheists, or at least agnostic. They had grown up in one of the few remaining progressive holdouts on the West Coast, as the coast turned more and more red with the flood of Mexican refugees from the south. But trapped in here with people from all walks of life, everyone involved began to show more sympathy for one another.

The evangelical, who they later learned was named Matthew, talked about the various missions they would send out helping the poor, and talk extremely poorly about the megachurches which had begun popping up in the deep south.

"-a complete affront to God, is what they are," Matthew commented.

The black lady, who they later learned was named Arleen, had had a rough upbringing. All she wanted was a chance in society, but society kept turning her down.

"Everywhere I go, I can't get a job. No matter what I try or what I do, I can't get a job in this goddamn economy. I just want a chance in this society!" Arleen said, tears in her eyes.

"Must be the machines, the unemployment rate has been hovering above a quarter now. Connor and I have university education and we have no luck," Mathias responded.

The white plumber, named Jacob and the Hispanic businessowner, named Sarah would get into civil debates, for they originated on opposing sides of the political spectrum.

"Cortez was one of the greatest presidents to ever impact my life. She granted my family amnesty, and it was because of her my business was able to flourish. Without the small business loans her administration provided, I would not be able to be here right now," Sarah said.

"Easy for you to say. All more immigrants does is make it even harder to find a job in this crowded job market. I worked an honest life as a plumber for 20 years. But now... Now there's no room for a man like me. Me and tens of my friends like me... Those damn machines..." Jacob responded.

Every day, the man in black robes would come downstairs, and lead a brief prayer, which almost everyone participated in. The evangelical and the man in black robes, the black woman, and the Jewish rabbi would all participate. Matthias and Connor would participate out of respect, but never really got into the hang of it. Sarah would participate, but it was unknown if she really believed.

Finally, one day, the man in black robes came downstairs once again, with a grave look on his face. "They're coming. They were able to track down someone's internet history and public profiles. They were looking for 2 homosexuals, and they tracked their location to this church... That's you two, isn't it?"

Connor and Mathias looked at each other, one of them reached into their pocket and pulled out their phone, it had been tracking them the entire time. "How did you know?" Connor asked.

"I suspected it," the man in black robes said. "It's hard not to suspect when you sleep so close to one another."

Connor and Mathias braced themselves, they were expecting to get kicked out, to be thrown to the Eurasian wolves at any moment, for the first time, one of them made a silent prayer in their heads, asking God, or whatever higher force out there that they not be thrown outside.

The evangelical looked at them, his look was not hostile, but sympathetic. They had spent long nights telling stories of each other's lives, and the barrier he never knew existed had thawed.

"I've got into contact with some people who will smuggle you out. But all of you have to leave quickly, the Eurasians will come for you any moment now." the man in black robes said. He stepped aside, and a swole, black man stepped forward.

"We're with the 72nd Patriot's Militia. The Eurasians have penetrated the Mississippi. We're taking you to Denver, its one of the few cities west of the Mississippi which haven't been taken yet. After that, well, you can make your destination from there." he explained.

They boarded a large looking truck, big enough to transport all of them, covered by inconspicuous wrapping. "If anyone asks," the black man said. "We're a trucker transporting supplies to Kansas City. Hide behind some of the supplies in case they run a routine check."

They all boarded the truck, one by one. Mathias looked back. "Aren't you coming?" he asked the man in the black robes. "They'll come for you for harboring us!"

The man in the black robes looked down. "No one has come to this church for a while now, I was raised in this church, and I will go down with it. This church is my home. I have lived a long life anyway, and when I get to the pearly gates, I hope God will smile upon my deeds."

Matthew, the evangelical drew a cross symbol with his fingers, and communicated the words "God bless your soul." without saying anything. The man in black robes received his message, and nodded.

...

It was a long journey, the businessowner promised both the plumber and the black woman that should she ever be able to get back to her business, she would gladly hire them as employees. They both had a good heart, and strong work ethic.

Mathias and Connor feared what Matthew would think of them now their secret was out. But Matthew was as friendly as ever, a little friendlier even. They had become close friends, and began playfully bantering with each other the way close friends did.

"Don't worry, if we see any Eurasians we'll hit them with our rainbow based superpowers that come with being gay. They won't know what hit them," Mathias joked.

"Bold of you to assume half the soldiers aren't gay already. 6 months sleeping next to nothing but buff dudes, its like the US navy all over again," Matthew retorted.

When they finally arrived, they waved their goodbyes.

"Where are you going?" Connor asked.

"Probably going out east with some family members in New York," Matthew replied. "They'll take care of me, how about you?"

Mathias and Connor looked at each other, this was a conversation they had whispered to one another when the others were asleep, and they had already made a decision. "We're going to stay with the Patriot's Militia."

"You sure about that?" Matthew asked, but he already knew the answer. He knew them inside and out.

"Yes," they both said at once. This was a complex decision. They had never liked America, all their lives it was just the government getting more and more oppressive in the realm of their personal lives. But now, it was their best shot at defending their way of life. "America is not a perfect bastion of freedom, but there is no other place like it. We've heard of places like La Plata, but our hearts are still here."

Matthew smiled, indicating he was going to tell a joke. "Now remember, if you ever change your minds, our church provides many conversion programs-"

"Oh, fuck off," Connor said, smiling, but only half joking.

"God gave you that mouth, thou shalt not use it for ungodly things," Matthew said, smiling.

"I'm pretty sure the Bible itself swears multiple times," Mathias commented.

"Darn!" Matthew said, and they laughed for a few minutes more, and promised to meet again someday.

This was a microcosm of the transformation within American society, when a shared struggle began unifying the divided nation. The American eagle was going through a transformation, but all signs point that the American eagle will emerge stronger than before.