Salvation | Book 1 | Salvation

by McNeil, Nick

  The Sons of Salvation remained still. “They do not follow lost prophets, Father. You taught them to be stronger than that.” Gideon smiled, his eyes crinkling enough to make them disappear. “Please invite me in. We have much to discuss.”

  Abraham made a fist. “Of course. Please, my children, step into my home.” Mr. Jones put one hand over his chest and the other pointed to his front door. Gideon, Elijah, and Aaron entered the home while the Sons waited outside.

  Mrs. Jones sat with her son and Clementine on the floor, while Dinesh and Jay sat at the dining room table. Amelia stood in the middle of the living room, holding her father’s AUG with her one good arm.

  “You won’t be needing that,” Gideon said with his palms facing up.

  Amelia popped her bubble gum. “I’ll drop mine when they drop theirs.”

  Gideon looked at Aaron and Elijah and nodded for each of them to lower their firearms. They complied, sliding their guns into the middle of the room. “We are only here to talk.”

  Amelia placed her gun on the floor and pushed it with her boot.

  Abraham shut the front door and closed the curtains. “Can I get you anything to drink?” Mr. Jones rubbed the wedding ring on his finger.

  “A glass of water would be delightful. Thank you, Father.” Gideon loosened his rope belt and aired out the top of his garment. “Today, there is a very easy plan and a very peaceful solution.”

  “Oh, and what’s that? You kidnap us and we go without a fight?” Amelia scoffed. “Do you seriously expect us to join your crappy after-school program?”

  “No.” Gideon gasped. He looked at Elijah and Aaron for nonverbal confirmation of the prophets’ peaceful intent. “We would never forsake the prophet Abraham. He is the founding father of the covenant. A long time ago he actually saved my life, believe it or not.” Gideon looked at Abraham both like how a mother watches her child and how a child looks up to their older sibling. “If Abraham chooses to abandon the Lord and His wishes, then would we be forced to take alternate actions. But even those would still be within God’s plan.”

  Abe made his way into the kitchen, where his wife and son rested on the floor with Clementine. Mr. Jones started the faucet. “Levi, they’re the only ones with the medicine to save her.” He spoke softly enough for his words to be covered by the sound of the water, but loud enough for Levi to hear.

  “That is it. I have had it.” Amelia pulled Levi’s Beretta out from her back waistband and fired a round into the ceiling. “I will literally make everything go not according to plan for everyone up in this bitch if someone doesn’t tell me what the hell is going on!” She took aim at Elijah and Aaron, who were lunging for their rifles. “Not another step. And if I were you, I would not call my bluff.”

  Mr. Jones turned off the sink and brought Gideon the glass of water. “I have a lot to explain. And not just to you, Amelia. Not just to my family. To everyone.” He looked at his fellow prophets. “Even you, even you have no idea what game you have fallen into.” Abraham’s voice turned sinister; it was a cross between a whisper and the deepest voice he could make. A disguised evil could be seen through his eyes.

  “Please, Abraham. Do not choose your old life as a sinner. You’re a prophet of the Lord,” Gideon pleaded. He made a fist over his heart. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

  Abraham laughed to himself and tapped his finger on the dining room table. “You could say I was the first Gideon in a way. Chosen from a group of thirteen people that I was already a part of, I was to be the leader of three hundred men. And those three hundred men were to be the very first Sons of Salvation.” Abraham grabbed a seat and overlooked everyone in the room. “We weren’t religious extremists, but we did believe in a form of anarchy. Not chaos, but equality. We had a vision for what the world could be and a way to make it happen. It didn’t take too long to figure out how to shut down the grid. How to take away the government’s control entirely and put the power of the country into our own hands. Believe it or not, that really was the easy part.” Not a soul in the room felt so inclined as to interrupt or even ask a question.

  “What we needed to figure out was how to keep what we planned on taking. How could we stop the army and government from taking back this land overnight? How could we enforce our rules, our vision, if there were going to be numerous people who opposed it?”

  Abe inched forward in his seat. “We needed an army. An actual army. Not a large group. An army. And one that would serve us blindly. One that did not fear death, but invited death because it truly thought it would be rewarded even greater for it. So we started the Sons of Salvation. A group that I would brainwash and control to follow me as loyally as the word loyal could possibly mean. Since the beginning of time, man has given everything in the name of the Lord. Several modern wars and current politics, they’re still entirely about religion.”

  “Three hundred men is hardly an army, don’t ya think?” Amelia, of course, being the first to break the silence.

  “Don’t worry, I’m getting there.” Abraham unbuttoned his coat and placed it on the table next to him. “It took years. I traveled back and forth for months at a time, sometimes longer. Part time with my family and full time with the Sons. But eventually, I had three hundred men whom I individually convinced not only to be lifeless soldiers for the Sons of Salvation, but that each one was different than all the others. Three hundred men and one woman.” Abe looked to his wife. “I spent a decade working with every person one-on-one. Learning them like a textbook. Convincing them that we had something special between us that no one else in the covenant possessed. I made each one believe they were truly the most immaculate gift.”

  “Let me get this straight, you and all your hacker anarchist friends needed not only a virtual way to take over the world, but a physical one.” Amelia smacked her gum. “So ya started a cult.”

  “Amelia, shut the hell up,” Levi interrupted. “We need to get Clementine out of here. We need to get this whole situation defused, and you’re throwing matches into the fire.”

  Gideon and the other prophets remained speechless, their skin slowly turning pale. They played it coy, but their stomachs were twisting like corkscrews. Elijah and Aaron stuffed their hands inside their pants pockets to hide their shaking hands. A wet spot could be seen in the center of Gideon’s chest where he began to sweat.

  “This is the part that I think even you will enjoy, Amelia,” Abraham continued. “One by one I convinced each person in the covenant that they were a special prophet that God specially told me to choose. But that they could not tell the others because they would not understand, for they were merely human and not a prophet of the Lord. I told them that they had a mission that no one else could ever complete. And that God needed their help more than anything. The rapture was coming, and only we could save humanity from eternal damnation. It would be our life’s work to save as many souls as we can.”

  Mr. Jones buried his hands in his hair. “I needed them to have a goal in mind, so I gave each of them the prophet name Gideon, the military leader from the Bible who led three hundred men. It was a large number, but a specific target they could be set on. I bestowed upon them thirteen disciples each, and sent over two hundred Gideons to forty-eight states across the country. Each one I taught how to do exactly what I did to them. But I made them think that they were completing God’s work and His direct messages. Everything they did was to save the world during the time of the rapture. Everything they do now, they do because they think they’re ending their lives as martyrs.”

  “You’re right, this is my favorite part.” Amelia smirked and crossed her arms.

  “So after a decade of creating Gideons, I spent another decade helping Gideons across the entire country start up their own Sons of Salvation covenants. It was almost like a template. Every Gideon unaware of the others’ existence. Each Gideon recruiting three hundred men in preparation for the rapture.” Abe walked to the kitche
n and poured himself a glass of water. “What’s incredible is I never told any of the Gideons to appoint other prophets, or even told them that they could receive messages from God. But nonetheless, after enough time passed in each organization, every Gideon started hearing messages from the Lord.”

  “Hold on, you don’t even need to be a mathematician to do some simple times tables.” Dinesh stood up and paced back and forth. “If you have two hundred Gideons, who all recruited three hundred men, that means you have sixty thousand armed men at your disposal.”

  “That’s correct,” Abe assured him.

  “Holy shit!” Amelia shouted.

  Levi and Jay made awkward eye contact, glancing around the room, taking in everyone’s reaction.

  “How could one man rise to so much power?” Dinesh flopped into his chair.

  “It gets better,” Mrs. Jones interjected. “Let’s take a step back fifteen years. Five years after Abraham started his mission, three years after the Sons of Salvation started.” Sarah stood up, brushed off her pants, and walked to the center of the room. “Three years after the success of the Sons, Abraham had an even better plan. A plan for an even bigger vision. So he started another covenant, the Disciple’s Daughters.”

  “You knew about this?” Amelia asked her mother.

  “Do you want to tell them, or me?” Mrs. Jones gazed at her husband. “I guess I will.” She chuckled. “After your father started the Sons, he realized he limited himself by making it exclusive to just men. So he started a female organization. And of course, who was his first recruit?” Sarah’s tone changed, her body language changed; if Levi and Amelia didn’t know any better, another woman walked into the room. “No one else but his wife, Mrs. Jones.” Sarah smiled at Levi and Amelia. “He made your mother the first Sarah. And she was to essentially be the first female Gideon.”

  “That isn’t true.” Amelia aimed her gun at Sarah. “Tell the truth.”

  “She’s telling the truth.” Abraham placed himself between Amelia and Sarah. “I never intended for her to leave you guys, but after a couple of years she truly believed she was Sarah, and she denied you guys as her children.”

  “Just because you’re standing in front of that woman doesn’t mean I won’t shoot you both.” Amelia scrunched her face and then released it, trying to make herself calm.

  “Amelia, hold on.” Levi put his hand out, but could not move with Clementine in his arms. He looked at his father and Sarah. “Is she still alive?”

  “Yes,” Abraham answered bluntly. “However, she went rogue several years ago and took off with a handful of other women. We honestly have no idea where she is.”

  “So our mother is off somewhere living her life as your pawn while you left us with your mistress?” Amelia shook her head. “But you were loving and…” Amelia struggled to find the words. “You were genuinely caring. I don’t understand.”

  “I won’t lie.” Sarah gave them a half smile. “I grew to love all of you. But you must understand, I did it for the Lord. I did it for our Father, Abraham. I was happy to be chosen.”

  “Wait a minute.” Levi’s head darted around like he was looking for answers. “After everything you just heard, you still believe you’re chosen by God?”

  Sarah nodded.

  “And you?” He peered at Gideon, Aaron, and Elijah.

  “How far you have truly fallen from the Lord’s grace, Abraham, is further than my greatest fears allowed me to believe.” Gideon’s voice was monotone. “Everyone except Abraham, Levi, and Amelia clear the room.” Aaron and Elijah picked up their rifles and escorted Dinesh, Jay, and Sarah into another room, leaving Clementine unconscious with Levi.

  Amelia went to the kitchen and sat with her brother and Clementine. She rested her head on Levi’s shoulder. “I can’t gather a single thought right now.”

  “I think we need to think later,” Levi responded. “I have a bad feeling the worst is yet to come.”

  “Me too.” Amelia sighed.

  “We came here today to retrieve you and Sarah. That was all. But I am afraid things have slipped beyond that now.” Gideon took a sip of water. “I plan to continue with the Lord’s goals, and you aren’t going to stop that.”

  “I’ve given my entire life to this covenant. I created this covenant. None of us are leaving with you today,” Abraham hissed, pounding his chest. “I call the shots, not you.”

  “I have over fifty armed men outside these doors. I am going home with someone, Abraham.” Gideon stood close enough for his and Abe’s noses to touch. “I don’t care if it is you, your wife, or your children. But one of you is coming with me today. I lose these people if I go home empty-handed.”

  “Can you save her?” Levi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Do you have a doctor, wherever you are. You have hundreds of people, you must.”

  Gideon tilted his head to the side. “I do not know if we can save her, but we do have access to doctors, surgical tools, as well as the power of God. He has saved more evil people from worse scenarios than your friend. She can live if He so chooses for us to save her.”

  “Don’t make him a promise you can’t keep. We both know the Sons don’t accept women into the covenant.” Abraham approached his son. “Levi, what are you thinking right now?” He played into his son’s plan. He did not know what it was, but he’d chosen to let Levi go down his own path when he told him the Sons could save her.

  “We are not returning to our home tonight,” Gideon answered. “We are making our way straight to the Disciple’s Daughters.” The old man cleared his throat and took a sip of water. “They can save your friend if I ask them to.”

  “What do I have to do for you?” Levi wet his lips and gave a hard swallow. “I just want you to save her.”

  “The Lord asks a lot from you, young Levi.” Gideon exhaled. “We have to kill Aaron and Elijah now. They know too much. I came here to retrieve a lost prophet, and I am about to lose the only two I came with.” The old man took another sip of water. “I will also not be returning with the father of our covenant. I must bring the people something that will make all of that okay.”

  “How about this game plan?” Amelia used her brother’s shoulder to push herself up. “We blow your brains out. Then we blow the brains out of your two goons. Then my padre walks on out and says the Lord has spoken to him.” She threw her arms in the air, Levi’s Beretta tightly gripped in one of them. “We go back with the Sons, they save Clementine, then we all bounce again and go on our merry way.”

  “That is a well-thought-out plan, Amelia.” Gideon rubbed his hands together. “Unfortunately for you, I have already told my people that the Lord wants me to see through his plan. And if anyone comes out without me, to shoot them, for they know that whoever walks out has forsaken me and the Lord himself.”

  Amelia sat back down. “Damn.”

  “Someone mentioned that the Lord is coming on the eighth day?” Levi rubbed Clementine’s cheek with his thumb.

  “On the eighth day a form of the Lord will present itself. We do not yet know his intentions or how he will present himself.” Gideon’s breath quivered.

  “If you save Clementine, you can take me.” Levi held onto Clementine, his tears dripping onto her. “In the Bible the Lord tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his only son. Tell them that once again, the Lord has asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son in exchange for repentance for his desertion of the covenant.”

  Amelia held Levi’s arm down. “Hell no, fuck this chick,” she screamed.

  “The prophet Isaac has returned to us.” The color returned to Gideon’s skin, and he gave a throaty laugh. “I swear by myself, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son”—Gideon admired Abraham—“the Lord will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will
be blessed.”

  Amelia stepped in front of Levi and took aim. “Give me one reason not to kill this guy.”

  “Because nothing changes,” Levi murmured. “If we kill him, the Sons kill all of us. If we don’t cooperate, the outcome is most likely the same. Compromise is our only option.” His glasses fogged up.

  “He’s right, Amelia,” Abraham rationalized.

  “I am going to kill each one of you.” Amelia nodded her head and clenched her jaw. “You for taking my brother.” She pointed her pistol at Gideon. “You for killing my brother.” She aimed at Clementine. “And you, for being the absolute, fucking worst.” She pulled the trigger, lodging a bullet into Abraham’s chest.

  Aaron and Elijah burst around the corner, as though they were waiting there the entire time. They pointed the barrels of their rifles at Amelia. “Drop it now,” Aaron howled. “Drop it or I shoot your brother.”

  Amelia looked at her brother and shrugged. She placed the gun on the kitchen floor and her hands behind her head.

  Abraham gasped for air. “Save the Father, you heathens,” Gideon screeched.

  Elijah and Aaron swung their rifles onto their backs. Aaron grabbed Abe’s feet while Elijah gripped him under the armpits. They shuffled out of the house as quickly as they could. Thirteen men broke formation and rushed to their aid, taking Abraham into their care. The near dozen men hustled through the woodlands and back to the white bus.

  “Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Gideon marched out of the house with his arms to the heavens, waving them from side to side.

  The Sons as a whole held their composure, but tensions across the group heightened.

  “The Lord does not trust his prophet Abraham and has asked him to once again sacrifice his only child.” Gideon dropped to his knees. “And just as Abraham, he has asked me to sacrifice my children.” He put his arms out like Jesus on the crucifix. “Please, place into my right hand the will of the Lord.”