Reminiscences of sour vinegar haunted my nostrils as I remembered the old man’s corpse in the aisle of pickles. I turned my head away to gag in my sleeve.

“Do they know about them?” Ralph whispered.

His question was answered when Abigail rubbed against my arm. “Roy and Dylan are finally back! They’ve been so helpful since things have changed. We wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for them!”

A crowd formed around their truck to celebrate their return. Father Ezekiel led the reunion and brought the two grizzled men to the table. They kept their guns in their offhand while Ralph and I kept knives in ours.

The one they called Roy went in for a handshake with Ralph but it was left unanswered. Camouflage adorned his entire outfit, from his ballcap to his heavy boots. I would’ve called them hunters in a previous life, but that was before I felt like prey.

Ezekiel noticed the hesitation of the greeting and realized that both men were armed. He carefully redirected Roy’s focus to the warm innards of the comfortable church. “You boys hang up your tools and wash up. We’ll unload your truck,” he said with a wry smile. He then politely ordered Ralph to help the women while he requested that I join him on a tour of the land.

“Your friend doesn’t seem exactly the warmest,” Ezekiel said.

“Not to strangers, no. I don’t know how to tell you this but we’ve seen those men before,” I responded in a stern mutter.

“Have you?” he asked.

He held onto my arm as he escorted me down to the edge of the lake. A noticeable path was carved that went around the entirety of the water and ended on the outskirts of the church. Logfall Lake and its surrounding area was encompassed by a dense forest. I could see the edge of land easily enough, but I wouldn’t dare swim across it this time of year.

Calm waters lapped against the wooden pillars of a worn dock. A chair, tacklebox, and rod leaned against the railing, gathering dust and rot. Whoever was here before, is gone for good now. Ezekiel listened to my explanation I saw at Archie’s Groceries with a nodding head but a closed ear.

“I believe that you saw my sons, yes. But I do not believe that they killed out of wickedness. You even said yourself that you heard two types of gunfire. The elderly fellow must’ve shot first and my boys were defending themselves. It is a cruel world now but that does not mean we must let it consume us.”

I looked over the tranquil waves as the priest’s useless words washed off of me.

“It has been tough since it started,” Ezekiel sighed. “Two of those men you saw were named Blake and Cole. They passed away recently while collecting supplies. Told they had a run-in with some gang of bikers… Let me show you where they’re buried, I haven’t paid my respects today.”

He showed me his well of never ending water, his garden of everlasting life, and the beautiful graves that rested on fertile ground. Behind the church, there was a type of serenity that I never felt before. Ancient graves rested obtuse as the vines and decay had settled upon them. The dead were long gone, only remnants of stone marked their memory.

Ezekiel put his head down as he and I stood in front of two fresh graves. Flowers and bottles of beer rested on their markers. He muttered some prayer while I waited for him to finish.

After doing so, a wave of peace or joy had washed over Ezekiel. Some burst of energy had taken hold of him that he meant to share with the world.

“Light has shone upon us this day!” he exclaimed. He pointed to the storm clouds in the far distance, ever drifting further away from us. “Do you see that, Sage? It is as if the holy powers above had pushed the tempest away from us!” He noticed my lack of enthusiasm and took hold of my hands.

“I know you do not believe in it, my child. But I know you see it. I know you feel it.” He grazed his thumb over my wounds, tracing the cuts across my palms. “You did not have these when I last saw you,” he said.

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I pulled my hands away. “I imagine it’s hard to see them in the dark or when I have gloves on,” I muttered quickly. “My skin has just been cracking from the cold. That’s all.”

The priest’s excitement left his face when he saw I didn’t respond in kind. “I see… Well, you must bundle up in these times. Because even if the sun shines down upon us today, it may not be tomorrow. We must prepare for anything.”

“Is changing your name part of that preparation?” I asked sternly. I wasn’t falling for his subtle and vague sermons and I needed straight answers if I was going to stay here another night.

Ezekiel exhaled a small laugh and a bright smile. “I thought it more fitting in these times. If the world has changed, why can’t my name as well? I brought new members, gathered back those who had wandered astray, and made a home for all. A home… for you. You met Jeffery, correct? The elderly man who sat across from you? See, he has been part of this church since before I ministered in this community. I knew him before. I knew him after. I will know him when his name is among those inscribed in these stones. And that will be his legacy. That is ,what the powers that be above, had wove his life to be. But those powers had given me leadership in this world too. I was lost when that day happened. When the world was turned upside down on its head without a word spoken or answer to give. The powers had spoken to me that night. They showed me an oasis of glittering sand and beautiful seas. And when I awoke, I knew it was my job to lead those unable to see a paradise created for us. And I thought I was the only one.” The priest lifted his black pant leg and showed his scars. Our patterns of wind blasted wounds had appeared similar, but his were much deeper, and much darker.

Ezekiel put his pant leg down and gripped my shoulders. Although his pale blue eyes pierced into my soul, I focused on the bloodshot that surrounded them.

“I can lead them, Sage. I can lead you. I can take all of us to the Other-Place. A paradise away from this cruelty. Away from the hunger, the violence, the fear! I can take us to a land inhabited with creatures we thought were myth. We can be under the rule of mighty gods who will grant us protection from all evil! Friends and families who are beneath this cold soil we stand on today will walk among us tomorrow if you join me, Sage.” Tears emerged from the corners of his eyes and fell upon the earth.

Fear had taken hold of me and I froze in his grasp. I couldn’t stop staring into his fiendish gaze. Every nerve in my body told me to be afraid. It told me that what he spoke were lies conjured by some madness that had taken hold of him. Yet… a part of me wanted to believe. I wanted to find peace. I wanted to find my brother. I wanted to find this Other-Place.

I turned away from Ezekiel and wiped away my own tears that had streamed down my cheeks.

“I know it is hard to understand, child,” Ezekiel said. “But revelations are hard to quell.”

I wished to be alone to tame my thoughts but the priest was always beside me, looming over me with an open-hand to his teachings. The only relief I received was us turning our heads to a shout we had heard coming from within the church.

“Why the hell were you two looting in Fallfield anyway!” Ralph exclaimed. “Who’d you all loot just now!?” Ezekiel and I had just entered through the doors and was met with guns drawn and quivering hands. Roy and Dylan pointed their rifles at Ralph while he pointed his pistol at them. It was unexpected, yet I knew he was prone to blow up like this.

Ezekiel put his palms out and spoke in a calm but demanding voice. Like he was conducting a sermon, he spoke to each of their hearts, and captured their minds. They followed his words as if they were the only truth that would protect them from certain death. The men lowered their weapons but it didn’t stop them from keeping an eye and a finger close to their triggers.

Ralph pulled me aside back in the cold wind and told me his disdain for the church and all of its members. “No matter how innocent and holy they pretend to be, they are bloodstained, Sage! Figuratively and literally! I pulled out cans of food and blankets still sopping wet with blood! These men don’t just loot abandoned houses, but search for others to take from. I say we grab Freddy, and get the fuck out of here.”

“Ralph… C’mon. We just got here,” I said.

“And we can just leave right now. Do you not understand that these people are dangerous, Sage?”

Ezekiel’s words found their way to my ears even when he was distant. He made me feel something that I haven’t felt since Don left. He made me feel hope. Hope for me to find what I had lost. A way to make myself whole again in someplace different—somewhere far away. However, that fear of the priest looming behind crept in my mind again.

Fear of his grasp and power over me.

Fear of the absolute that another realm existed.

Fear of the unknown.

I agreed with Ralph to leave, as much as it tore through my heart, and went inside to retrieve my belongings. But as we entered, the door closed behind us.