Zen's War: Captivity
Chapter 12: The Fall from Grace

The sermon went on for hours. Joshua went on and on about the Babylonians and the Antichrist. He ranted and raved about the evil religion of Islam, calling it the creation of the bastard son of Abraham. Sahara had no idea who Abraham was, or why he was so important. According to Joshua without the intention of bearing a child, sex was only lust, and lust was a horrible sin. Being young and hormonal, talk of sex made Sahara squirm.

According to Joshua women were responsible for humanity’s fall from grace. Apparently there was no sin in the world until Eve ate the apple. Seduced by the serpent, Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, an act strictly forbidden by God. In turn Eve tempted Adam to eat from the tree; which he did. For breaking God’s commandment, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden forever. The Garden of Eden had been a paradise. All that was needed had been provided to them. As long as they tended the garden and did not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there would be no suffering in the world. But Eve, being a woman, was a slave to her temptations. Because of Eve’s lack of self-control, humanity has been condemned to sin ever since.

She had learned about sex mostly from her mother. One day she had caught her brother Hector in the act. She had returned to the tent she and her brothers shared. When she opened up the flap to the tent, she was blown away by what she discovered. Hector was buck naked, writhing on top of an equally naked female. At the time she was only about nine. She really had no idea what she had just been exposed to. In shock she ran to her mother. She had described to her mother what she had seen. Her mother was then forced to tell her about sex. She told her that men and women had sex in order to make a baby. Only a man and a woman who were truly in love should have sex, and then it was called making love.

Joshua wiped the sweat from his brow and continued his sermon. “Woman’s only purpose is to procreate and serve the needs of men. Each of you is a daughter of God. You are each part of a plan that has been preordained since the dawn of creation. The father has sent me to spread God’s seed. I am to raise an army of God, so we are ready to combat the forces of Satan when they are released from the bottomless pit.”

After the sermon had ended, which had lasted from morning to dusk, Sahara along with the eleven other daughters of God were led upstairs. They were split up into groups of two. She was paired with the same girl she had locked eyes with earlier. Looking into her eyes was like looking into a doll’s eyes. There was no sign of any emotion within them. They were two lifeless orbs.

Each pair were taken to separate rooms. She and her soon-to-be roommate were led by one of the larger of Joshua’s disciples. He had to be nearly six foot four, weighing around one hundred and seventy-five pounds. His white hood obscured his face in shadow, making his face nearly impossible to see. They continued forward with him at their back. There was no point in resisting. The discrepancy in size between them was too much to ignore. Of course the fact that he carried a large machete also was a great incentive not to rebel. As far as Sahara could tell, he would not hesitate to use it on them.

The stairs groaned as they followed him up the stairway. Ahead and behind them were five of Joshua’s disciples, each leading a pair of Joshua’s wives. It was difficult to see in the flickering candle light. Along the wall were brass candle holders, each containing a large, white candle. Drops of wax had dried along the sides of the candles, and new drops continued to form. The candles cast a ghostly light, leaving eerie shadows on the wall.

At the top of the stairs they came to a long hallway extending to their left and right. She and the girl she had been paired with were led to their right. As they were led down the hallway she saw doors to their left and right. Between each of the doorways were the same brass candle holders containing white candles that had been along the stairwell. The walls were made of logs lying horizontally with one on top of the other. The floor was made of wooden planks that creaked as they walked along it. Carved into each of the doors was the now familiar symbol of the Star of David with a cross within it.

They were taken to a door at the end of the hall to their left. Sahara stood at the door reluctant to enter the room. The girl beside her stood still, ready for whatever would come next. The man that had led them reached to the left of Sahara and turned the doorknob. The door swung open revealing a small room. There was even less light inside the room then there had been in the hallway. Hanging from the wall directly opposite of the door was another brass candle holder with a white candle.

The walls of the room were made of horizontal logs as the hallway had been. On the floor of the room was a mat that looked similar to a futon. It seemed this would be the bed they would be sharing. They were left by themselves, as the man left and shut the door behind him. Sahara heard the sound of the man inserting a key and locking the door. When she heard the door lock a feeling of hopelessness swept over her. She then plopped herself down in the middle of the makeshift bed and began to cry.

“Why are you crying?” the other girl asked, whose name she still did not know.

Sahara looked up at her, with her eyes full of tears. “I was taken from my family; I could be dead for all they know.”

“So was I, and you don’t see me crying,” she said.

“I’m sorry, I just miss my family. It’s just I’ve never been separated from them is all.”

“There is no use in crying. Tears will not save you.”

“You’re right, but that doesn’t make it any easier.”

“I’ve been here for almost two years. I’m finally learning to accept the fact that I will never be rescued. Many nights I cried myself to sleep. I cursed the day I was born, and blamed myself for what I don’t even know. I felt like I was being punished by God or something. Now I know it happened for a reason. My life actually has a purpose now. Before, every day was a struggle to survive. Me and my mother would go from place to place searching for food and water and a safe place to sleep. There was never anything to look forward to. Back then I didn’t care whether I lived or died. I now know I was chosen by God to fulfill a great purpose.”

Sahara had stopped crying, though she still wanted to. She didn’t want to look like a baby. What was that her father had told her? Only the strong survive. If she wanted to stay alive, she would need to stay strong.

The other girl remained standing in front of the door. Her blonde hair was disheveled and hung almost to her butt. Her eyes were almost catlike in appearance, reflecting the glowing candlelight. It was hard to tell exactly what color her eyes were, but they appeared to be green like her mothers’. Her dress was white, hanging down to her ankles. The dress she wore was basically a rag. It had many tears and holes in it. Running down her right shoulder was a hole in the back of the dress, revealing her pale skin.

“What great purpose are you talking about?” Sahara asked with a tone of doubt in her voice.

“It is the purpose that has been preordained for every child of God. The purpose is to resist evil and to not give in to Satan’s temptations. That was the whole reason the war happened. People began to believe Satan’s lies. Everyone was sinning. Men were having sex with other men, and women with women. People had even begun to not even believe in God. Everyone started doing drugs and giving into their pleasures. Nobody cared about anybody else. Just as God had become angry with Sodom and Gomorrah, so to God had become angry with the entire human race. The war was meant to cleanse the earth of sin. All the people that died in the war deserved to. The people that survived were chosen by God to survive. Our purpose is to repopulate the kingdom of God on earth,” the girl answered with a look of fervor in her eyes.

“You may have accepted that you will never see your family again, but I am nowhere near accepting it. My family will not rest until they find me. Until then, I will not give up hope of being rescued,” she responded defiantly.

“You remind me of myself. I was once under demonic possession as you are now. Joshua saved me. Besides for me and my mother the rest of my family died from radiation sickness. At first I was angry with God. I now know I was wrong to be upset. They died because they were meant to. Me and my mother were the only ones out of my whole family that were chosen to survive. If Joshua hadn’t found me I’d be dead also. Eventually you’ll know the truth. Once your demons are exorcized, you’ll realize you were wrong.”

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