Warning: Extreme violence. Death. Language.

Read at your own discretion.

“Salvation,” he smiled, “is inevitable. Our Time is inevitable.”

It felt cooler beneath the huge makeshift tent, contrasting the hot sun beyond.

Still, the crowd sweat in the unavoidable humidity of so many bodies packed together.

Jeremiah adjusted his posture and sat back straight, legs crossed, as he was taught.

The speaker stared him down instantly, but continued.

“Does not creation itself testify to this? What’s considered ‘good’ for one may not be the ‘good’ of another!”

Though droplets beaded down his forehead, the gray haired man seemed untouched by the heat.

His voice golden, young.

“This is the meaning of all right religion. To seek out the good of another. Then, and only then, can we transcend into Goodness Itself.”

Someone coughed in the back.

“GODHOOD… can be ours!”

Though beginning with a shout he ended with a whisper.

No one moved.

Some didn’t breathe.

Jeremiah felt his soul uplifted to the heavens, imaginations spinning around in his head.

Rows upon rows of holy faces sparked with the same luminescent glow.

He squeezed Lexi’s hand beside him.

“What we have done here, on this day, our day,” rhetoric dripping with purpose, “grants us the right to become the people you and I️ were destined to be.”

The man bowed and raised a hand in thanksgiving.

Applause erupted from the crowd.

Shattered silence bursting forth to cheers from enraptured masses.

A lone woman, likely from the women’s Chantry, began a celebratory hymn:

To us, to us didst thou so give

Us to enter heav’n

For with our hands, shall the world heal

And thereby make the Kingdom

Together shall we triumph soon

To end all our oppression

And to the thrones we know the Path

To precious liberation

The choir gathered, praises rising to the tops of their lungs, the Prophet wept.

Three verses later, claps and cheers, hoops and hollers, rolled as if in encore.

Everyone shared hugs, kisses of friendship, holding each other close.

Jeremiah felt the joy deep in his bones. Their time was now.

For 30 years he’d searched for meaning.

Finally, during the paean, he realized… he would serve others, serve humanity, bring them this Gospel… this Utopia.

The speaker, their Prophet, gathered himself amidst the reeling emotions.

“Absolute equality. No more war. No male and female. No rich or poor.

We shall all be alike in divinity.

After today there shall be no more weapons,”

He wiped a tear from his eye.

“And we shall have…”

Pause.

“…THE HEAVENLY REALM!”

Ecstasy. Bliss. Jeremiah felt drunk, though he’d not touched a drop since his conversion.

A younger man (Samuel, was it?) squeezed him to his bosom.

Lexi pressed herself, crying, onto the woman beside her.

He felt, in that moment, the greatest joy of his life.

“The hour has come when those worshippers of truth shall no longer act in Spirit, but in action.

Endure this false reality no longer. Become, who we were destined to be.”

On cue, the Bishops and Elders pulled back the sides of the tent flaps and revealed opened crates.

Each Holy One turned and preceeded in perfect unison towards the world outside.

They each must take up their burden and follow.

He marched into the light, abandoning all pride, all worldly knowledge, all sense of the self.

He was not his name any longer. He was arisen.

As Deacon Michael handed him his tools, he felt the Inner Truth well up within him and gripped the handles tightly.

Breathing deeply, he inhaled a mix of petricore and sweat.

He finally felt the reality of his very existence on the threshold of trancendance.

Though few realized in the present reality, they would soon see.

The Holy Ones brought them peace, unity, purpose beyond themselves.

“Blessed are the merciful,” the Prophet said, “for they shall receive Mercy”

———

Veritably, many tried to resist their mercy. Word spread some of the Holy Ones went to their eternal reward and the end of unholy weapons. Weapons of war.

At first it amazed him how many did not see. Could not see. But the Prophet warned that Hell’s claws sunk deep.

They were poor, blind, pitiful, spiritually naked.

Earthly fathers leaping to rescue their children. Mothers sobbing over his Divine Mercy.

So diluted. Their souls desperately needed awakening.

He wiped the blood off his blade and read the inscription again.

With blood comes cleansing, read one side, Blessed are the Merciful

He smiled to himself, giddy with the Joy of the Coming Kingdom.

The blades held true. Sister Lexi cut down the couple in the apartment, laughing wildly.

She danced around the room, painting the walls with her armaments.

These were for those who’d spoken against the One Truth.

Together the Holy Ones would finally silence all manipulators. Both for their sake, and the pain to which it would lead others.

Running towards Jeremiah, the two embraced and shared a savage kiss.

She pulled back, “We’ve saved so many souls today already, Jeremiah,” hope filling her eyes.

He pressed his lips against her forehead, “And these are just the beginning! Many will follow. Many have followed!”

The two embraced again.

Celebrations lasted throughout the day.

How long, Oh Heaven?, He thought, tuning the radio dial again. He felt anxiety (a fleshly emotion) welling up within him.

Surely, the Prophet would soon announce the Good News to the world.

Lexi placed her hand on his, regaining his attention. Her golden braids were bewitching. Especially now.

“Surely, it will be soon. Come with me, beloved, we still have so much work to do.”

He smiled and rose from the recliner, taking her hand in his. Together they practically skipped out of the room, past the elderly corpses at their feet.

Their effots would not be in vain.

———

A gated house was the next address on their list.

Jeremiah lit up with recognition and pulled Lexi close.

Another joined them. It was Brother Samuel!

A gifted climber and instrumentalist, though neither knew him well beyond this. But it was enough.

His presence carried weighty confidence. It immediately lifted their soaring spirits higher.

“I’ve already completed my tasks, brother,” He placed a hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder, smearing red, “Let me serve with you in this.”

Jeremiah stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

“We would welcome it, friend.”

Lexi giggled and twirled.

She seemed light as a feather, dancing across the sidewalk.

When they arrived, Samuel quickly laid explosives along the hinges.

Lexi giggled, “He looks skilled with his hands!”

She shoved him playfully. Such thoughts must wait until after their triumph.

Samuel soon joined them, the trio crouching behind a transformer box.

“1… 2… 3”

He detonated the charges.

An explosion twisted metal.

Shrapnel in every direction.

The massive door wavered and tilted back, if slightly — somehow held on by only the latch.

Jeremiah lept forward, eager to show his initiative.

He pressed his shoulder against the gate, inching it open, little by little.

His companions joined him, forcing a gap large enough to squeeze through.

Lexi went first, whistling a hymn like a schoolgirl

zip, zip, POW

Bullets whizzed past her head. Eyes widening, she tumbled behind a van blocking the entryway.

Glass shattered, bullets landed against the concrete wall behind them. With effort, the two men finally broke through the hole.

Samuel, last through the door, slid along the grass behind an oak tree.

CRACK

Bullets sprayed chips of bark behind Jeremiah’s head.

He turned to see a man wearing plate aiming down from a balcony.

Two children ran up to the glass behind. A red-haired woman swiftly yanked them back into the bedroom.

“Come on, you sons of bitches!”

The man lifted the scope to his eye and scanned the scene, ready.

Lexi looked petrified, helplessly motioning towards Jeremiah and Samuel.

Jeremiah shook his head.

In a flash he stood, dashing diagonally towards the van.

Puffs of smoke popped in a trail behind him, pounding at his heels.

He dove, suddenly struck in the thigh, and faceplanted between the tires. Searing pain shot up and down his leg.

He rolled over, noticing the relief behid Lexi’s deep blue eyes. He couldn’t help but laugh.

He’d been judged worthy to suffer for the Kingdom!

For a moment, all time stood still. He heard the man on the balcony shouting something, but comprehended no words.

Lexi bit her lip and slid a hand into Jeremiah’s stained robe. Her pale fingers gliding down his chest towards his belt.

He heard what must be Samuel’s quick footsteps in the background. Maybe he made it to the side garden.

Lexi’s hand drifted between to his leg, then onto his thigh, gripping a grenade strapped there.

Winking, she jumped to her feet, yanked the pin, and tossed it into the air.

A single shot struck her in the forehead, crumpling her lithe body to the driveway beneath.

Another explosion rang out. Jeremiah gasped. He crawled to his feet and hobbled beside the Sister.

Her empty gaze lingered to the heavens.

Struggling, he turned his body towards the front door.

The man lay bleeding, hung over the railing.

Behind the glass he heard a woman’s scream. Children crying.

A black-haired boy with tan skin pressed against the glass.

He saw Samuel pick him up with an arm, show him mercy.

Silence. Blessed Silence.

Jeremiah collapsed to his knees beside Lexi, now laid in Divine Repose at his feet.

“Heaven smiles upon you, beloved,” he whispered.

His tender hand slid down her face and closed her eyelids.

She’d live forever as a Saint for the One Truth.

Samuel slid open the glass door and cheered down at them in celebration.

He could hear the man’s groans as he struggled to move.

His legs lifted, sliding him completely off the rail - bones cracked on the ground below.

What glories they showed to this house today!

———

At three o’clock, a voice came over the radio.

“Now speaks the Prophet of Prophets!

Now speaks the Prophet of Prophets!

Heed his words!

Now speaks the Prophet of Prophets!”

The lovely voice of the Awaited One, the Prophet, the Blessed Leader of the Holy Ones, soon followed - more wonderful than every hymn or sonata.

“Brothers and Sisters!

I’m speaking to you now not as your leader, not as a liberator, but as one like you. A simple man who this day achieved sainthood and brought Mercy to the restless.

For centuries this worldly nation preached poison because they did not know the One Truth.

They did not wish to know the One Truth.

That all people should be united under no banners, no borders, no exploitation and oppression!

Today we took back this land as our forefathers established it. Where the Good of all people triumphs over the profiteering of the few!

For too long the tyrranies of so-called property and the rights of the individual!

Too long they judged one another by outward appearance when the One Truth comes from the soul! The Inner Truth!

Now all will see true equity! Our Heavenly Kingdom now made manifest!

Divinity is upon us all!”

———

Jeremiah’s leg still ached as he laid in the grass beside Lexi.

He sense other Holy Ones now gathered around him. Some sang, some wept for joy, many danced.

But none as gracefully as her.

He stared up at the sun and stretched out his hands as if to take it in his grasp.

Samuel came forward, still covered in viscera and gore.

He was so kind. It should be him.

He bent down and tilted his head, kneeling beside Jeremiah to speak close to his ear.

“You’ve fulfilled your call today, Brother. The world will reap the rewards. Your name will echo into the Heavens.”

Jeremiah smiled, delirious. Samuel leaned over and kissed him.

“Our time is inevitable.”

Samuel wiped his forehead, truly glorious to behold.

“Salvation, is inevitable.”

The sky swam around him. He felt Godhood drawing ever-nearer.

Samuel raised his blades to the heavens.

“Now you too will have the Prophet’s Mercy.”

Jeremiah hummed one of the canticles and closed his eyes.

Birdsong in the field seemed to join with him. All things now united

The world would be as it should be, now reborn as Utopia.

Baptized in the blood of their Gospel.

The knives slid across his neck.

Darkness.