Armagenesis 1 by Marcus Lynn Dean

Author:Marcus Lynn Dean [Marcus Lynn Dean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Last Ditch Press
Published: 2024-04-04T00:00:00+00:00

It’s always the same, thought Naomi. Next up, the only prayer of the entire service. Not only was it the only prayer of the service, it was always exactly the same prayer. The Preacher’s Sunday prayer always asked God for the strength and the will to defeat the followers of Satan. He asked for the power to cleanse the earth of those who were unworthy. And the means to destroy the last of the evil technologies that were worse than the golden idols of old. The Preacher’s prayer always ended with him pledging not only his own life, but the lives of all those present, to the cause. The rousing chorus of amen from the gathered flock was a pledge of loyalty to The Last Kingdom of God. And a vow of fealty to The Preacher himself.

After the prayer came the strange baptism ritual for those newcomers who had yet to be baptized into the Last Kingdom of God. The baptism ritual consisted of each new member holding a lit torch in front of their face while one of the Preacher’s disciples threw a pail of water over them, dousing the flame and drenching the new convert. Naomi counted eleven newly baptized members this week. Four men, five women, one young boy and a toddler that could have been either male or female. From Naomi’s vantage point, she couldn’t tell which. The toddler, who obviously couldn’t be trusted to hold a lit torch in an old wooden building, screamed bloody murder when one disciple held the fiery torch in front of his or her face, and another nearly drowned the poor child with water.

Weddings usually followed the baptisms, and today was no exception. This Sunday there were only two. Wedding ceremonies were just as ritualistic as baptisms, but seemed completely out of place at a Sunday service. Especially LKG weddings. In New Canaan, a wedding was mostly just an exchange of property. Women were the property, and The Preacher gave them to whomever he wanted.

The Preacher gave Rebecca to one of the newly baptized men named Ben, who had arrived at New Canaan without a wife. At least she doesn’t have to be a sister wife, Naomi thought. Small comfort to poor Rebecca, who seemed to be in shock, staring straight ahead, without a hint of emotion on her ashen face. The pity Naomi felt for Rebecca turned to anger as she heard The Preacher command the poor woman to “serve and obey Ben in all things, and for all time, until death released her from her duty.” The words of the ceremony were the same as always, but the anger she felt at the dehumanization of women hit Naomi harder than ever. In the Amish culture she grew up in, women were expected to be submissive to their husbands, but they weren’t treated like chattel.

After Rebecca obediently followed her new husband back to their place in the front pew, it was Nancy’s turn. Still thinking mostly about Rebecca, Naomi

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