I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
…..And its a hard rains a-gonna fall.
----Hard Rain by Bob Dylan
Silent Storm
There was no warning. Just an unexpected knock at the door to announce the inquisition. Upon realizing the two elders were standing at my door, an involuntary paralysis set in and I felt the choking lump in my throat as though an invisible noose had tightened around my neck.
I wasn’t concerned they would find my contraband literature; that was kept hidden even from my wife. I had tried to bring up a couple of doctrinal issues, changes and inconsistencies, but I could see from her defensiveness, she wasn’t ready to hear any of it. So I just kept my mouth shut to keep the peace.
Over the course of the past two years I had learned “the truth about the truth”. Three months ago I had just made the decision to fade and had skipped out on two meetings and field service for the week when things suddenly got weird.
It was that very week that the elders made private visitations to the people on their list---those who were in good standing. We were told to get together all food, supplies, medications, and whatever we would need for about six weeks. We were told to discreetly start stocking up on these items immediately because the time would come very soon. We were told to keep this information confidential. It was not to be discussed with any other members of the congregation because there were apostate spies within the fold.
It wasn’t enough that they instilled fear in us against outsiders, “the worldlies”, now they were causing divisions within our own group. “Trust no one” seemed to be the underlying message. Well, trust no human, anyway, but trust some invisible slave giving orders for an invisible sky god.
A few weeks ago they came to tell us that we were to stay in our homes until we heard from them again. There would be no meetings or field service until further notice. They said things were about to “get bad” out there. Elder Smelder said they had gotten some inside information that the ports had been shut down a few months ago and that the grocery stores would soon run out of food. They predicted riots would certainly ensue and there would be fights for the last of whatever was on the shelves. The flu bug had mutated once again and people would start dropping like flies. Protests against the government were about to get out of hand and everyone would be walking the streets with their guns loaded. Elder Bonafide gave me an envelope detailing some instructions “for later” he said.
It’s been really difficult being cooped up in the house with a wife and three kids. By the way, my name is Cam(that’s short for Camero) and my wife is Lou Belle and we have three children: Mac (that’s “Cam” spelled backwards---the wife’s idea), 14, Suzie, 11, and Clarise, 8. We were advised that the children were not to be allowed even in the yard to play. “They might be in danger of getting the flu, or being kidnapped and held for ransom, or might let private matters of our seclusion slip in conversation with a neighbor.”
It was the most outlandish fear mongering I had heard from them ever. It didn’t even sound believable. But I knew others would panic and hang on their every word.
A few days later, I decided to go see my friend, Jeff. He had been labeled an outright apostate because he dared to question the dictates of this nefarious group. We had had a lot of long talks and he was my support system in this world of isolation I had built under the influence of cult indoctrination.
When I called his house he told me that his parents had packed suitcases and that the elders had picked them up. He was very concerned. He had begged his parents not to leave. He said he didn’t think they had a clue where they were going. “We’re just trusting Jehovah and being obedient,” they told him. God knows what kind of Jonestown scene was probably playing in his head. Damn those evil men for the emotional torture they caused others! ‘May their tongues rot in their mouths’, I thought to myself.
Lou Belle was upset that I was leaving the house against the instruction of the Elders. “Last time I looked, the sky was still blue,” I told her. I just wasn’t buying into this propaganda and paranoia.
Jeff’s car was in the carport, but nobody answered the door. I banged and banged; I walked around the house to look in through the windows, but all the curtains were drawn. I was afraid to leave a note. Afraid maybe “someone” would find out I had been there. I pulled out a dollar bill and wrote across the edge “Meet me at JWN” and slipped it through the mail slot. He would know it was me.
I called Jeff at work the next day but I couldn’t locate him. The secretary was a temp and she said there were a lot of shift changes, people out sick, and she didn’t know who anyone was.
A few days later, I slipped out late at night and went back to Jeff’s. When he didn’t answer the door, I broke a window in the back and went in. He was no where around and the bill I slipped through the mail slot was still there. My only link to the sane world and he couldn’t be found.
I guess I got a bit sucked back into believing the freaky warnings from the elders when I began to see unusual things happen. The television broadcasts were intermittent, as was internet service. Phones were on some days; other days out again. The kids watched the same movies over and over and could recite all their movies almost line for line. It was turning me into a madman.
News broadcasts had advised people to self quarantine themselves as much as possible and to wear masks to cover their mouth and nose when out among crowds as a precautionary measure. Quarantines were not mandatory nor was there any militia on the streets, nor martial law enforcement. Everything on my street pretty much looked the same; maybe a little less traffic.
It had been 22 days since the elders had last visited. The instructions they had given me in the envelope were preparations for a time in the future when they would pick us up. They did not know the day or hour, but we were told to be ready and on the watch. We were allowed one suitcase each. It was to be packed and ready. Now they were here with a shuttle van and said we had to be on the road in ten minutes.
We scurried around grabbing up a few last minute things to take. They had brought in a couple of cardboard boxes and just walked through the house into our kitchen and set the boxes on the table. They instructed my wife to pack all the canned goods and packaged foods as we would be pooling the food resources with others.
Elder Smelder inquired about the kids and wanted to see them. Clarise was scurrying around gathering her videos. Mac was bringing the suitcases into the living room.
Elder Smedler confronted Suzie, “I suppose it’s been boring having to stay home for so long, hasn’t it?” he tried to seen chummy.
Suzi rolled her eyes, “I’m sooo over it!”
“You mean you all haven’t been out of the house at all?” the inflection in his voice seemed rather critical of us, like we had been holding them hostage.
It was as though in defense of us when Suzie answered. “Well, we played kickball a few times and Clarise got stuck climbing the oak tree.”
“That would have been a real misfortune if she had fallen and broken her arm. You might have had to go to the hospital. So many people with flu makes the hospitals an especially dangerous place to go these days.” Elder Smelder turned to look at me with a sinister satisfaction as though he had some ammunition to use against us.
Who did he think he was to interrogate our children so slyly? And why were we submitting ourselves to this?
We were all quickly packed into the waiting shuttle van with tinted windows. As we drove through the neighborhood, I noticed that everything looked the same. Lurk3r was mowing his lawn. I could hear Spike Tassel banging away on the drums from the basement in his parent’s house. There were no riots, no crowds of people fighting, no people dropping dead in the street. It looked just the same as it always had.
“Where are we going?” Clarise asked.
No one answered as we drove on in complete silence.
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end chapter 1
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